


Part of Your World

by hunter_king



Series: Supernatural - J2 [17]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Barebacking, Bottom Jared Padalecki, M/M, Slash, Swearing, Top Jensen Ackles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-29 00:55:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16733952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunter_king/pseuds/hunter_king
Summary: After making a deal with the sea witch Genevieve, Jared is given legs and three days to make his handsome prince Jensen fall in love with him. If Jared cannot manage to get Jensen to make love to him within the three day time limit, his soul will belong to Genevieve forever.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the j2_everafter challenge in February 2012  
> Based off of The Little Mermaid  
> Beta'd by tornknees

Birds flew overhead and dolphins swam happily through the sea as the ship crashed through the waves, the sailors singing as they enjoyed their time on the ocean. Jensen never really liked to sing with them, so he was merely doing what he was supposed to be doing, which wasn’t much since he was the prince and they were all worried he was going to break if he did something too strenuous, like he was made of glass, or something. “Isn’t this great?!” he smiled. “The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face…a perfect day to be at sea!”

Jeffrey Dean Morgan looked up from his position where he was leaning over the side of his boat and Jensen could have sworn that his face was green. “Oh yes…” he muttered, clearly not a man made to be at sea. “Delightful.”

A small sympathetic smile passed Jensen’s lips as he moved to help Milo with the mast. “A fine strong wind and a following sea,” Milo smiled. “King Jim must be in a friendly-type mood.” He knew that most people didn’t believe in merpeople, but he wasn’t one of those people. When he had been on the sea one day, he could have sworn he’d seen a merperson and to this very day, he believed in them because of it. Even when Steve got a little too rambunctious when he spoke of the merpeople; it was actually a little bit funny when he teased Jeffrey about it.

“King Jim?” Jensen asked, suddenly intrigued by the idea of a King who ruled the waters. He had heard of the God Poseidon, but from the stories he’d read, the guy sounded like a dick. If there was someone else out there controlling the waters, Jensen was more than interested in hearing about him.

When Jensen inquired about King Jim, Steve’s ears perked up, taking over for Milo as he explained, “Why, ruler of the merpeople, lad. Thought every good sailor knew about him.” Of course, Jensen wasn’t exactly a sailor, only helping out on the ship here and there when he was forced to be on it, but still; Steve considered Jensen a sailor even if he was just a helper sometimes. After all, as far as he was concerned, being a sailor was a lot better than being a prince; but then what did he know?

A loud scoff from Jeffrey had both men turning their attentions to the older male. “Merpeople?!” he exclaimed with a shake of his head. “Jensen, pay no attention to this nautical nonsense.” The last thing Jeffrey needed was for Steve to fill Jensen’s head with lies and fantasies; Jensen’s father would have Jeffrey’s ass if that was the case. 

Frowning, Steve argued, “But it ain’t nonsense; it’s the truth!” As he spoke, Steve gestured wildly with the fish he was holding in his hand. “I’m tellin’ you, down in the depths o’ the ocean they live!” The fish in his hand finally managed to flop away, smacking Jeffrey in the face with its tail before it landed back in the ocean, letting out a relieved sigh before it swam further into the ocean’s depths.

**~~**

The little seahorse, Tom, silenced the bustling crowd as he announced, “His royal highness, King Jim!” On a carriage led by dolphins, King Jim entered dramatically to the crowd’s applause and wild cheering. “And presenting the distinguished court composer, Horatio Thelonious Ignatius Crustaceous Christian!” Christian entered the room then to mild applause.

“I’m really looking forward to this performance, Christian,” King Jim explained, leaning a little in his throne so that he could speak low enough that the other fish in the crowd couldn’t hear his conversation meant only for Christian.

Smiling widely, Christian assured, “Oh, Your Majesty, this will be the finest concert I have ever conducted. Your daughters and your son – they will be spectacular!” At least that’s what he was hoping; the last thing he wanted was to upset the King.

King Jim returned Christian’s smile as he leaned back in his throne once more. “Yes, and especially my little Jared,” he assured the lobster happily; of all his children, Jared was his only son and he expected great things from him. After all, Jared was in line to take over the throne when the time came for Jim to resign, so it wasn’t exactly like Jared had a choice other than to step up to the plate, so to speak.

Again, Christian smiled at the King. “Yes, yes,” he agreed with a small nod. “He has the most beautiful voice.” Flitting off, Christian mumbled to himself, “If only he’d show up for rehearsals once in a while.” When he reached his podium, Christian smiled back at Jim a moment before he began to direct the orchestra.

Suddenly, King Jim’s daughters all came out of sea shells and began singing of how they were the daughters of Jim, singing their names happily one by one before they sang about Jared’s musical debut. Unfortunately, when the shell which was supposed to hold Jared opened, the young merman wasn’t in there, causing everyone to gasp in shock.

To say that King Jim was angry would have been an understatement. The King stood from his throne and yelled as if he thought Jared was going to hear him from wherever he was at the moment. “Jared!”

**~~**

The sunken ship was only a few feet away and Jared was gaining on it quickly. From behind him, he heard his friend Chad hollering at him to wait for him. He turned slightly and smiled at the flounder. “Chad, hurry up!” he called, making his way closer to the ship only now he was moving slower so Chad could catch up.

Once he had caught up, Chad frowned at Jared, feeling a little embarrassed as he reminded, “You know I can’t swim that fast.” Merpeople were the fastest swimmers in the ocean aside from dolphins, so there was no hope of Chad, a flounder, being able to keep up with Jared. His little blue fins weren’t as large as Jared’s fin and his yellow frame was a lot chubbier than Jared was. 

“There it is,” Jared smiled, eyes wide with wonder as he stared at the ship before him. “Isn’t it fantastic?” Everyone in the sea knew that Jared was adventurous and he would stop at nothing to learn new things and travel to places where he thought he may be able to gain some information on something he wasn’t too sure about; he dragged Chad along all of the time too because it was nice to have company. Except when he was upset; then Jared preferred to travel alone.

A small frown came to Chad’s lips at Jared’s obvious wonder, the little fish not exactly understanding what was so fantastic about it. “Yeah…sure…it-it’s great,” he agreed, not really sounding all that intrigued as Jared had. “Now let’s get outta here.” He hadn’t really wanted to come in the first place, but Jared had managed to convince him; as usual.

Chuckling, Jared shook his head, grabbing ahold of Chad’s fins and pulling him closer to the ship. “You’re not getting cold fins now, are you?” he asked with a small frown, knowing that Chad would never admit to it, but feeling that it was necessary to ask regardless.

Chad frowned, quickly shaking his head. “Who, me?” he asked as if there was someone else around who Jared may have been talking to. “No way. It’s just, it, um…it looks damp in there. Yeah. And I think I may be coming down with something. Yeah, I got this cough.” He started coughing unconvincingly in hopes that Jared would get the picture and suggest they leave.

Unfortunately, Chad’s plan didn’t go the way he had hoped. “All right, I’m going inside,” Jared explained with a small smile. “You can just stay here and watch for sharks.” With that, Jared was in the ship, already exploring the depths of the foreign object.

This new suggestion seemed to placate Chad, the young fish nodding happily. “Okay. Yeah, you go. I’ll stay and – what? Sharks?!” Quickly, Chad turned towards the ship and tried to fit through the porthole as he called for Jared. “Jared…I can’t…I mean – Jared, help!”

As he swam back towards the porthole, Jared laughed, grabbing ahold of his friend’s fins again as he tugged him into the ship. “Oh Chad,” he chuckled, sometimes amazed with how helpless his little friend could be. 

Swimming through the murky water in the ship, Chad tried to be positive about the situation for his friend’s sake, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the shark comment. If there was one thing in the sea he didn’t want to come face-to-face with, it was a shark. “Jared,” he whispered, making sure to keep close to the merman. “Do you really think there might be sharks here?”

Although he loved Chad like he were a brother, Jared sometimes couldn’t help but be annoyed by the little fish. “Chad, don’t be such a guppy,” he chastised, almost one hundred percent sure there were no sharks in these parts of the ocean. He had those locations marked from when his father took him out a few years ago and told him to avoid certain places and this wasn’t one of them.

“I’m not a guppy,” Chad frowned, a little upset that Jared thought that about him. “This is great. I mean, I really love this. Excitement, adventure, danger lurking around every corn – Ahhhhhh! Jared!” Chad quickly tried to swim away from the skull he had just seen though he crashed into a pillar and caused a cave in. He narrowly escaped being squished with the debris, frantically swimming away and knocking Jared over when he crashed into him. When Jared asked if he was okay, Chad nodded. “Yeah sure, no problem; I’m okay.”

Something out of the corner of his eye suddenly caught his attention, Jared quickly swimming towards it. “Shhh…” he mumbled, shushing his friend as he picked up the fork. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Have you ever seen anything so wonderful in your entire life?!” Chad seemed to be interested in this object as well, though when he asked what it was, Jared merely shrugged as he tucked the object into his bag. “I don’t know. But I bet Misha will.”

While Jared was off examining something else in the ship, Chad shivered with fear; he thought he’d heard something and with the shark comment earlier, he wasn’t going to take any chances. “What was that?” he asked, turning his attention towards Jared. “Did you hear something?” he asked, kind of hoping that it was just his mind playing tricks on him. When Jared didn’t answer him, Chad frowned once more, swimming a little closer to his friend. “Jared…”

In all honesty, Jared hadn’t meant to snap at Chad, but he was starting to get annoyed with his paranoid whiney attitude. “Chad, will you relax?!” he yelled, clearly frustrated. “Nothing is going to happen!”

Of course, Chad didn’t believe Jared and turned around to show the merman how upset he was by the attitude he was being given; however, when he turned around, he saw the shark moments before it broke through that glass. “Ahhhh! Run! Run!” he screeched, swimming off away from the shark and towards safety. “We’re gonna die!” he whimpered as the shark started to gain on them. 

The shark chased them through the ship, Chad and Jared only a few feet in front of it when Jared dropped his bag. There was absolutely no way he was leaving his treasure behind so he went back for it, narrowly missing the shark’s teeth as it tried to capture him in its powerful jaws. They were headed straight to the porthole and Jared heard Chad complaining again before he got stuck. Jared pushed with all his might at Chad’s backend, effectively getting him through the porthole before he swam through himself, the shark crashing through after them moments later. 

As the chase continued, Chad turned his head to get a better look at where the shark was now; unfortunately, his curiosity caused him to run into a pole and get knocked silly for a moment, the little fish tumbling down into the depths of the ocean further, headed right for the shark’s mouth.

Jared saw that Chad was falling and quickly dove after him, catching him just in time and causing the shark to get stuck in an anchor, the top part of it acting like a collar for the giant beast. Now that the shark was trapped, it appeared that Chad got some bravado and swam towards the sea monster. “You big bully!” he yelled, sticking his tongue out at the shark. However, when the shark snapped at him, Chad quickly swam back towards Jared where he was safe.

Chuckling, Jared mumbled, “Chad, you really are a guppy.” He merely laughed when Chad denied the facts again before letting the matter drop as they swam towards the surface; towards Misha who would be able to tell them about the treasures they had found in the ship. Of course, his father had warned him to stay away from the surface, but Jared had been up there a few times and nothing bad had happened, so he thought it was safe.

**~~**

When they arrived on the surface, Misha was humming and looking through his telescope. He wasn’t really sure how to use it, but it made him look smarter. He heard Jared calling for him and looked through the telescope once more, backwards of course, which made him think that Jared was a lot further away than he really was. “Whoa! Merman off the port bow! Jared, how you doin’ kid?!” Lowering his telescope, he jumped back slightly, realizing that Jared was actually at wing’s length. “Whoa, what a swim!”

Normally, Jared would have chat with Misha for a while, but he was just so excited today that he couldn’t wait. “Misha, look what we found,” he smiled as he dumped the contents of his bag onto the boat Misha was resting on. Jared smiled wider as Chad explained that they had been on the sunken ship and then laughed when the little fish called it creepy.

“Human stuff, huh?” Misha asked, moving closer to the items. “Hey, lemme see.” Picking up the fork, he got a very amazed look on his features, smiling at the utensil. “Look at this. Wow…this is special – this is very, very unusual.” When Jared asked what it was, Misha smiled widely, holding the fork out in front of him. “It’s a dinglehopper!” he exclaimed. “Humans use these little babies…to straighten their hair out. See…just a little twirl here and a yank there and ta-da! You got an aesthetically pleasing configuration of hair that humans go nuts over!”

As Jared swooned over the dinglehopper, Chad pointed at the pipe and asked, “What about that one?” He had never seen anything like it, so now that they were out of danger for the most part, he was actually interested in their new finds.

Grabbing up the pipe, Misha explained, “Ah, this I haven’t seen in years. This is wonderful! A banded, bulbous, snarfblat.” Jared and Chad both stared at the object in awe before Misha pulled it away and started reciting more facts that he knew about the snarfblat. “Now, the snarfblat dates back to prehistorical times when humans used to sit around and stare at each other all day. Got very boring. So, they invented the snarfblat to make fine music. Allow me.” Misha blew into the pipe and seaweed popped out of the other end, leaving Misha a bit perplexed.

At the mention of music, Jared frowned, slapping his forehead as he remembered the concert. “Music? Oh, the concert!” he whined. “Oh my gosh, my father’s gonna kill me!” When Chad asked if the concert was today, Jared merely nodded, grabbing the pipe out of Misha’s hand and gathering the fork and other items he’d gathered at the ship. “Um…I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go! Thank you Misha!”

Seemingly unfazed by having the pipe taken from him, Misha waved at Jared and Chad as they swam off. “Anytime Jay, anytime!” he called as he lounged back against the boat and started playing with his telescope again.

**~~**

In the deep, dark caves of thesea, Genevieve watched Jared swimming through the ocean with her magic crystal ball. “Yes, hurry home young prince,” she chuckled. “We wouldn’t want to miss old daddy’s celebration now would we? Ha! Celebration indeed. Blah! In my day, we had fantastical feasts when I lived in the palace. And now look at me – wasted away to practically nothing. Banished and exiled and practically starving, while he and his flimsy fish-folk celebrate.” Smirking maliciously, she added, “Well, I’ll give ‘em something to celebrate soon enough.” Turning her attention to her little minions, she yelled, “Mark! Fredric! I want you to keep an extra close watch on this handsome little son of his. He may be the key to Jim’s undoing.”

Laughter filled her lair as Genevieve admired her garden, poking at the shriveled and weak merfolk who had been unable to complete the terms of their deals with the great sea witch. Soon enough, she was sure she would have Jared in here to add to her collection.

**~~**

“I just don’t know what we’re going to do with you, young man!” Jim yelled as Jared floated below his throne, taking his punishment like a man. His son tried to explain himself, but Jim interrupted him. “As a result of your careless behavior –” he started, only to have Christian add in the word reckless for the older male, “– the entire celebration was, um…” He wasn’t exactly sure how to put it nice enough to keep Jared from getting too upset, but at the same time he didn’t want to let his son off the hook too easily.

Angrily, Christian took over the chastising for the King, little arms flailing as he hollered, “Well, it was ruined! That’s all. Completely destroyed! This concert was to be the pinnacle of my distinguished career. Now, thanks to you I am the laughing stock of the entire kingdom!”

Hearing Christian chastise Jared the way he was started making Chad angry, the little flounder quickly swimming up to Christian and yelling, “But it wasn’t his fault!” Now that all eyes were on him, Chad felt a little awkward, chuckling softly before he cleared his throat and started explaining as best he could. “Well, first…this shark chased us. And we tried to – but we couldn’t and – grrrrr – and-and we – whoaaaaaa – oh, and then we were safe. But then this seagull came, and it was this is this and that is that, and –”

Before Chad could finish his incomprehensible tale, Jim rose from his throne, obviously upset. “Seagull? What?” he asked, glaring down at Jared angrily. “You went up to the surface again, didn’t you? Didn’t you?!”

Although Jared knew that Chad had only been trying to help, he still shot the little guy a glare, letting him know that he had said too much. “Nothing…happened,” he assured his father, trying to placate him before this conversation went from bad to worse.

When Jared admitted to going to the surface, Jim sighed, giving his head a small shake. “Oh Jared…” he started, shaking his head once more as though he was lost for words. “How many times must we go through this? You could’ve been seen by one of those barbarians; by-by one of those humans!” He spat out the word as though it tasted awful in his mouth.

Now, it was Jared’s turn to get angry, swimming up so that he was looking at his father straight in the face, a sign of disrespect though he hadn’t meant for it to be exactly. “Dad, they’re not barbarians!” Jared argued, knowing for a fact that his father had never actually met a human, so he was only talking about rumors he’d heard over the years.

Just as angrily as Jared had spoken, Jim argued, “They’re dangerous! Do you think I want to see my youngest, my only, son snared by some fish-eater’s hook?!” It was true that he had never met one, but more than a few merpeople had gone missing over the years and the rumors were that humans were responsible. If he lost Jared, he had no idea what he would do.

Close to tears, Jared yelled, “I’m sixteen years old! I’m not a child anymore!” He was starting to get upset by the way his father was treating him. Jim expected Jared to take over the throne some day and he still treated him like he was five!

“Don’t you take that tone of voice with me, young man!” Jim hollered. “As long as you live under my ocean, you’ll obey my rules!” His son was hard headed and stubborn and Jim really needed to break Jared of that trait. He could hear Jared telling him to just listen, but he would do no such thing. “Not another word! And I am never, never, to hear of you going to the surface again! Is that clear?!”

Without another word, Jared swam away, tears making silent tracks down his cheeks. Chad frowned at both Jim and Christian before he swam off after Jared, knowing that the younger male would probably need some company when he felt better, so he wanted to be close by when the time came.

Once Jared was gone, Christian crossed his little arms over his chest, giving his head a small shake. “Hmm! Teenagers,” he muttered with another shake of his head. “They think they know everything. You give them an inch, they swim all over you.” That was one of the reasons he never settled down and had children. Well, that and he was too busy with the King and everything else to really court a mate.

Frowning, Jim sunk back down into his throne, letting out a soft sigh. “Do you think I…was too hard on him?” he asked Christian, looking to his right hand man for answers. He had never had this problem with Jared’s sisters, so he wasn’t exactly sure how to handle his son.

Christian didn’t even hesitate as he answered, “Definitely not. Why, if Jared was my son, I’d show his who was boss. None of this ‘flitting to the surface’ and other such nonsense.” Turning his attention to the King, he added, “No sir, I’d keep him under tight control.” It was really the only way to raise a kid these days. 

A wide smile came to Jim’s face when Christian suggested keeping Jared under tight control. “You’re absolutely right, Christian.” Another smile came to his lips when Christian agreed. “Jared needs constant supervision.” Again, Christian agreed, causing Jim to smile once more. “Someone to watch over him and keep him out of trouble.” When Christian muttered that he needed it all of the time, Jim exclaimed, “And you are just the crab to do it!” He took the shocked expression on Christian’s face as a yes.


	2. Chapter Two

“How do I get myself into these situations?” Christian griped to himself as he paced back and forth on the rock he had been spying from. He had a good view of Jared and Chad from here, so it seemed like the best place to hide. “I should be writing symphonies! Not tagging along after some headstrong teenager.” Suddenly, he saw Jared and Chad sneaking off somewhere, the little crab frowning as he followed. “Hmmm…what is this boy up to?” Christian barely made it into the cave to see Jared’s collection, his eyes widening in shock. “Huh?”

A small frown on his lips, Chad asked, “Jared, are you okay?” In his own opinion, the king had been a little hard on his son. All Jared wanted to do was explore and learn more about the humans. Now, it wasn’t exactly something Chad enjoyed, but he could see how much Jared loved it and he didn’t think it was fair to make Jared stop just because it could be dangerous! Jared had been doing this for years and he had been fine! What were the chances of something happening now?

Sighing, Jared explained, “If only I could make him understand. I just don’t see thing the way he does.” Taking his dinglehopper out of his bag and placing it in its new home, Jared continued, “I don’t see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad.” He swam around a little more, deeper into the cave as he checked on all of his treasures, making sure nothing was missing as well as adding his new finds to his collection where he felt appropriate.

Suddenly, Christian, who had been struggling around to move and follow Jared, came crashing down, making all kinds of noise, which drew Jared’s attention to him. “Christian?!” Jared exclaimed, having a feeling that he was about to get into a shell load of trouble.

Once Christian had righted himself, the little crab glanced around the cave again, a deep frown on his lips. “Jared, what – are you mad?!” he exclaimed with a shake of his head. “How could you – what is all of this?!”

Jared bit into his bottom lip as he explained, “It’s…um…it’s my…collection.” He knew that the yelling was going to come before Christian even opened his mouth. In a way, the crab was a total suck up and Jared was prepared to make sure his father didn’t find out what he had here by any means necessary.

A deep frown marred Christian’s features as he nodded. “Oh. I see,” he assured Jared. “Your collection. Hmmm…” His calm persona quickly faded as he nearly jumped out of his shell, yelling, “If your father knew about this place, he’d –” 

“You’re not gonna tell him, are you?” Chad asked, interrupting Christian’s rant. Everyone knew that Christian could be kind of a downer, but he didn’t think the crab would rat Jared out for having a safe place to keep all of his treasures.

Now that Chad mentioned it, Jared was sure that Christian would tattle on him for having this place, the young male quickly shaking his head. “Oh please, Christian, he would never understand!” Jared begged, not wanting his father to come here and ruin everything he had. This was the one thing that made him happy when he was sad and if he lost it, Jared didn’t know what he would do.

Of course, Christian didn’t want Jared to lose this place, but he felt that King Jim had a right to know about where Jared ran when he was upset and just what kinds of things he had in this place. After all, if they were going to make sure that Jared didn’t get into trouble with this whole human thing, they needed to make sure that Jared didn’t have any reminders of the very thing they were trying to keep him away from. Though the look on Jared’s face was a little heartbreaking, causing Christian to sigh as he explained, “Jared, you’re under a lot of pressure down here. Come with me; I’ll take you home and get you something warm to drink.”

He actually thought he had Jared for a moment before a large ship suddenly passed overhead and cast shadows under the sea. He heard Jared mumbling something as he swam up towards the surface where he wasn’t allowed to be. “Jared? Jared!” Christian called, following after Chad who had already taken the liberty of swimming after Jared. He swore those two were attached at the fin; it was odd.

On the surface, there were bright lights shimmering through the sky after loud booms all around the ship; it looked so lovely. Jared stared at the display in awe, wanting to know more about these strange lights and the humans who seemed to be dancing around on the ship. Of course, in order to get more information, Jared knew he was going to have to get closer.

Just as Jared was swimming closer, Chad and Christian reached the surface. “Jared, what-what are you –” Seeing that Jared was swimming closer to the human vessel, Christian exclaimed, “Jumping jellyfish! Jared, Jared! Please come back!”

The young merman didn’t listen as he pressed his body against the ship, getting a real good look at what was going on. It looked amazing and Jared tried to picture himself here doing just this. All he wanted was to experience some of the things that humans did; he just wanted to learn. His father overreacted as far as he was concerned; there was nothing bad happening now and Jared was closer to the humans than he had ever been.

Suddenly, a hairy beast barreled towards him, causing Jared to gasp in fear. But when a warm tongue escaped through the hair and kissed his cheek, Jared chuckled, ready to run his fingers through the creatures locks; however, he heard whistling and the thing scurried off towards a human, Jared’s eyes widening at the sight.

“Icarus! Here, boy!” Jensen called, whistling for his friendly little pooch. “Hey, come on buddy, whatcha doin’, huh?” he asked, scratching behind his companion’s ears. “Good boy,” he praised, hugging the little dog to his chest as he gave Icarus attention.

As Jared watched the human, practically mesmerized by his looks and the kindness he was showing the creature, Misha landed on the water beside him, looking into the ship in an attempt to see what Jared was so interested in. “Hey there, Jay!” he greeted, speaking in a loud, excited voice. “Quite a show, eh?”

When Misha nearly gave away their cover with his loud mouth, Jared quickly grabbed his beak, giving him a small glare. “Misha, be quiet!” Jared chastised, rolling his eyes as he released the bird’s beak. “They’ll hear you.” He may not have been as afraid of humans as he should have been, but that didn’t mean he wanted to meet one just yet. After all, he didn’t know what this handsome man would think of him if they met like this and that kind of bothered him.

It took him a minute to understand why Jared was so intent on being sneaky, but when he did understand, he lowered him voice. “Ooooh, I gotcha, I gotcha,” he assured the young merman. “We’re being intrepidatious. We’re out to discover!”

Again, Jared grabbed Misha’s beak, giving him another glare before turning his attention back to the humans. Sometimes Misha got a little too excited about things and Jared just needed him to be quiet. “I’ve never seen a human so close before,” Jared mused, releasing Misha once more as he stared dreamily at the human playing with the hairy creature. “He’s very handsome, isn’t he?”

Mistakenly, Misha looked at Icarus, frowning slightly. “I dunno,” he answered with a small shake of his head. “He looks kinda hairy and slobbery to me.” Then again, that was just Misha; none of the merfolk in the sea seemed to attract Jared, so maybe this slobbery hairy beast was his type of mate.

Chuckling, Jared shook his head. “Not that one,” he corrected, turning his attention back to the handsome man who had caught his eye. “The one playing the snarfblat.” He sighed dreamily as he continued to watch the man; however, when he heard another man speaking, Jared piped up, wanting to know what was so important.

“Silence! Silence!” Jeffrey called, wanting everyone to listen to this important message he was about to give. “It is now my honor and privilege to present our esteemed Prince Jensen with a very special, a very expensive, very large birthday present.”

Surprised, Jensen shook his head with a small chuckle. “Ah, Jeffrey, y’old oaf,” he smiled, grabbing the older male and pulling him into a one armed hug. “You shouldn’t have.” He had made it a point to tell everyone he didn’t want anything for his birthday; he wasn’t the type to make a big scene because he was turning a year older. Especially when his birthday only meant he was going to be hassled about getting a wife. Jensen just wasn’t ready to be married. And even if he was, he didn’t really like women.

Jeffrey smiled as he assured Jensen, “I know. Happy birthday, Jensen!” At his command, a large, gaudy statue of Jensen was revealed, causing Icarus to growl and Jeffrey to shoot a glare at the pooch. It was clear that Jensen was lost for words as he fumbled to say the right thing, so Jeffrey saved him the trouble. “Yes, I commissioned it myself,” he explained. “Of course, I had hoped that it would be a wedding gift, but…”

He knew he wasn’t going to get away without being hassled about a damn wedding. “Come on Jeffrey, don’t start,” Jensen whined, rolling his eyes. “Look, you’re not still sore because I didn’t fall for the princess of Glauerhaven, are you?” It had been a good month before Jensen heard the end of that one and he still thought Jeffrey was upset about it now two years later.

Sighing, Jeffrey shook his head. “Oh Jensen, it isn’t me alone,” he assured the younger male. “The entire kingdom wants to see you happily settled down with the right girl.” He had heard people talking and then there were Jensen’s parents; they really were looking forward to having an heir to play the role of queen in the castle when Jensen took over as the king.

The only answer Jeffrey received from Jensen was a small shrug. “Well, she’s out there somewhere,” Jensen assured his old friend, keeping up the façade of his wanting a wife. No one really knew about his preference to men because it just wasn’t what they wanted from him. After all, with a husband, there was no way Jensen could have children and he was about ninety percent sure that his parents would deem that unacceptable.

Although Jeffrey wasn’t really one to argue with royalty, it not being his place, he and Jensen were pretty close, so he didn’t mind talking to Jensen about his worries. “Well, perhaps you haven’t been looking hard enough,” he suggested, a small frown on his lips.

Another frown came to Jensen’s lips as Jeffrey’s suggestion, the younger male knowing that he was right, but not willing to admit it. After all, it was kind of hard to find a wife, or the right girl as he was calling her, when he wasn’t interested in having a wife. He wanted to settle down, but he wanted it to be with a male; he and women were usually only friends. Sure, there was that one drunken moment with the princess of Queens, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to count that as being interested in women. “Believe me Jeffrey, when I find her, I’ll know,” he assured his old friend. “Without a doubt. It’ll just – bam! – hit me…like lightening!”

All of a sudden, as if on cue, lightning and thunder appear in the sky as it grows very dark. Jensen heard Milo yelling that a hurricane was coming and ordering the crew to stand fast and secure the rigging. He wanted to help, but the storm hit too quickly, leaving no one any time to really process what was going on. 

In the sea, Misha frowned as the winds start to pick up, threatening to carry him away. “Whoa! The wind’s all of a sudden on the move here,” he explained to Jared just before the winds managed to carry him off. He shouted for Jared, wanting to warn him that he should get back under the sea before he was caught in the storm too, but the younger male didn’t hear him as he flew off to safety.

The ship continued to crash through the storm, the sailors doing everything they could with the little bit of time they had to make sure everyone was safe and nothing bad happened as they tried to wait out the storm. Unfortunately, lightning hit the ship and started a fire, throwing everyone into a frenzy which only worsened when the looming rock ahead of them was discovered. “Look out!” Jensen called to the crew moments before the ship crashed and everyone was thrown overboard; everyone except Icarus.

Jensen knew that if Icarus didn’t get off the ship, he was going to lose his best friend, but he also knew that Jeffrey couldn’t really swim all that well, so he was torn between rescuing his loyal companion and his longtime friend. Quickly, Jensen spotted a board and heaved Jeffrey onto it, ordering, “Jeffrey, hang on!” Once Jeffrey was secure, Jensen moved to the ship again, holding his arms out for Icarus to jump into. “Icarus! Jump, Icarus!” The pooch seemed scared, but Jensen wasn’t willing to give up and lose his dog. “Come on Icarus, jump!” he coaxed. “You can do it, boy! I’ll catch you!”

As if the dog understood Jensen, Icarus jumped off the boat and into his master’s arms, swimming towards the board Jeffrey was lying on once Jensen released him. Just as Jensen started swimming towards the board to wait with Jeffrey and Icarus, a piece of the ship fell and hit him, knocking Jensen unconscious as the crashing waves pulled him under the water. The ship exploded into a thousand tiny little pieces because of the fire and the impact, causing Jeffrey to scream for Jensen who he couldn’t see anymore and Icarus to whimper at the possibility that he may have just lost his best friend.

Fortunately, Jared hadn’t listened to Misha when he had told him to swim away and save himself, the young merman watching from the sidelines as the ship exploded. His eyes widened slightly when the rubble came at him, Jared diving into the sea and narrowly escaping being hit by a large piece of debris. He was about to swim away and back down to his father when Jared noticed that the handsome man was falling to the sea floor.

Without even thinking about it really, Jared took off in a dash towards Jensen, wrapping a strong arm around Jensen’s waist and swimming towards the surface again. He wasn’t an idiot; Jared knew that humans didn’t have gills like he did and there was no way Jensen could survive under the water, so he needed to get the older male’s head above water and get him the air that he needed. 

Once Jared had Jensen’s head above water, he swam towards the sand, pushing Jensen onto the solid ground where he knew that he would be safe again. He made sure to keep Jensen close enough that Jared could still be close to him as he waited for Misha, knowing that the seagull would know if Jensen was okay. He really hoped that he had made it in time, wanting nothing more than to be Jensen’s savior. 

As he waited, Jared pushed Jensen’s damp hair out of his eyes, smiling down into the sweet face peppered with tiny dots that only made Jensen more attractive in Jared’s opinion. Softly, he hummed in Jensen’s ear, hoping that the lullaby that his mother had sang to him when he was a baby would soothe Jensen like it had soothed him so many years ago. When Misha finally arrived, Jared quickly turned his attention towards his expert. “Is he…dead?” Jared asked, feeling his heart jumping into his throat at the thought.

Misha frowned at the question, one wing under his beak as he examined Jensen with only his eyes. He quickly moved to open Jensen’s eyelid, getting close to examine the now open moss green eye. “It’s hard to say,” he muttered with a small frown, moving to Jensen’s lower body. Once there, he picked up Jensen’s foot, pressing his ear to the sole of it. “Oh, I-I can’t make out a heartbeat,” he explained apologetically, knowing from the look on Jared’s face that he was going to be upset if they lost this human.

“No, look!” Jared exclaimed happily, pointing at Jensen’s broad, muscled chest. “He’s breathing!” Smiling, Jared leaned against Jensen’s steadily rising and falling chest, eyes closing briefly. “He’s so…beautiful,” he mumbled before he started humming the lullaby again, his hand moving slowly through Jensen’s hair. His mother had done that to him when he had been a child after all, so Jared thought Jensen might like it like he had.

By this time, Christian and Chad had washed up on shore, Christian’s expression shocked as he watched the scene, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground at the site before him. Chad merely smiled as he pressed his fin under Christian’s jaw and snapped it closed; unlike Christian, Chad just wanted Jared to be happy with whatever mate he found. And it seemed that this…human made his friend happy, which meant Chad was happy too. He only wished everyone else thought the same way he did when it came to Jared.

When Jared heard a voice and approaching footsteps as well as a loud bark, he quickly pulled away from Jensen, frowning sadly as he moved towards the water to hide himself from the new arrival. He hadn’t wanted to leave Jensen yet, but he knew he couldn’t risk exposing his identity until he knew more about these humans. Sadly, he dove into the sea and swam down to the depths and towards his home before his father got too worried about him and sent out a search party. It just seemed like something his father would do.

Jeffrey breathed a sigh of relief when he found Jensen, smiling down at the slowly waking younger male. “Jensen! Oh, thank God!” he exclaimed, arms wrapping around the younger male’s shoulders. “You really delight in these sadistic strains on my blood pressure, don’t you?”

Still slightly groggy, Jensen wrapped one arm around Jeffrey to return the hug before he allowed the older male to help him off the ground. “There was a…man,” Jensen started, looking around the beach for his mysterious savior. “He rescued me.” Smirking as he remembered the sound of the man’s voice, Jensen added, “He was…singing. He had the most…beautiful voice.”

A small frown came to Jeffrey’s lips when Jensen told him that a man had rescued him; and not just any man, but a singing man. “Oh Jensen,” he sighed, giving his head a small shake as he started leading the young prince back to the castle. “I think you’ve swallowed a bit too much seawater. Off we go; come on Icarus!”

**~~**

“We just gotta forget this whole thing ever happened,” Christian spoke to himself, trying to formulate a plan that would keep him out of trouble. “The sea king will never know. You won’t tell him, I won’t tell him, and I’ll stay in one piece.” It sounded good on paper, but he wasn’t sure if it was going to fly when the time came to put his plan in action.

As Jared, Chad, and Christian swam further into the ocean, Mark and Fredric emerged from the shadows, malicious grins on their faces as they watched the young merman. Genevieve could see everything they could see through her crystal ball and they had a feeling she was going to be very happy about this new information.

And they were right, the sea witch practically bouncing with excitement as she watched Jared swim. “Oh no, no, no, no, no, no,” Genevieve chuckled, shaking her head. “I can’t stand it! It’s too easy!” Again, she started cackling, head thrown back with the force of her laughter. “The child is in love with a human! And not just any human – a prince! Oh, his daddy will love that!” Moving through her cave, Genevieve continued, “King Jim’s headstrong, lovesick little boy would make a charming addition to my little garden.” Again, laughter filled the cave as Genevieve poked and teased her massive garden.


	3. Chapter Three

A small frown came to Lauren’s face as her sisters gave her a little push towards Jared’s bedroom door. She had apparently been the unlucky one to tell their brother that it was time to get out of his room and start the day. “Jared,” she called softly. “Honey, time to come out. You’ve been in there all morning.” Much to their surprise, Jared came out of his room without a fight, humming to himself and acting as though he didn’t have a care in the world.

Frowning as well, Katie watched as her brother swam past them without a second glance and seemed to be absolutely oblivious to the world around him. “What is with him lately?” she asked her sisters, looking around to the blank looks from all of her sisters as they merely shrugged in answer.

“Morning, Dad,” Jared smiled as he passed the sea king, continuing to hum along the way. He felt like he was the luckiest merman in the sea; his father didn’t know about his little adventure the night before and he had met the love of his life. Of course, the human wasn’t aware that he and Jared had met, but Jared knew it and he was so happy about it. 

Suddenly, Katie realized what was going on, swimming towards Jared’s retreating form a little ways as she exclaimed, “Oh, he’s got it bad!” She never thought she would live to see the day when her little brother fell in love, but here it was. Of course, now she was curious; she wanted to see this lucky mermaid who had caught the attention of her sweet, innocent little brother.

Worried, Jim looked around to his daughters. “What? What has he got?” he asked, wondering if maybe Jared had caught some kind of sickness while he was on the surface all of that time. Dammit, he’d warned Jared not to go up there; that nothing good would come of taking an adventure up to the surface!

Lauren chuckled as she swam beside her father, resting her head on his shoulder. “Isn’t it obvious, Daddy?” she asked, looking towards Jared’s retreating form once more. “Jared’s in love.” She spoke almost in a sing-songy voice as she floated away, wishing she had been as lucky as Jared to fall in love. After all, she was older, so she felt that she should have found true love before the youngest of the sea king’s children.

Pride and happiness swelled up in his chest as Jim stood a little straighter, smiling at the thought of his son being in love and eventually settling down. “Jared? In love?” he asked happily. Oh, this would be a wonderful thing for the kingdom. Having Jared settle down would be the start of a new generation; it would guarantee that when Jim was no longer able to act as sea king, Jared would be able to take over without any problems. And his new mermaid would be able to act as his right hand; as his queen.

**~~**

A deep frown marred Christian’s features as he paced back and forth on a rock outside of Jared’s little cavern where he kept his treasures. He was letting his nerves get the best of him and he knew it wasn’t exactly something he should allow to happen, but he just couldn’t help it. If Jim knew about what Jared had been doing the night before, he would have Christian’s shell! “Okay,” he started his pep talk, giving a small sigh. “So far, so good. I don’t think the king knows. But it will not be easy keeping something like this a secret for long.”

Jared smiled as he picked petals off the flower in his hand, mumbling to himself, “He love me…hmmm, he loves me not.” As he plucked off the last petal, Jared hollered excitedly, “He loves me! I knew it!” He could hear Christian muttering something about his talking crazy, but Jared wasn’t really paying all that much attention to the crab. “I have to see him again,” Jared whispered. “Tonight! Misha knows where he lives.”

Rolling his eyes, Christian chastised, “Jared, please. Will you get your head out of the clouds and back in the water where it belongs?” Sometimes he really hated it when Jared went off on these rants, listening to the younger male planning to have Chad splash around and get this human’s attention after he’d swam up to the surface again. “Down here is your home,” Christian explained with a small smile. “Jared, listen to me. The human world…it’s a mess. Life under the seas is better than anything they have up there.”

When Christian returned his attention to Jared, he realized that the younger male had swam off with Chad, the little crab rolling his eyes once more as he asked, “Jared? Jared?” He didn’t get a response, so he sighed in defeat. “Someone’s got to nail that boy’s fins to the floor,” he mumbled to himself, ready to go off after the two adventure seekers.

Before Christian could start off after Jared and Chad however, Tom came barreling down through the waters, his breaths panting out through his lips as he explained, “Christian, I have been looking all over for you. I’ve got an urgent message from the sea king!” When Christian repeated him like he hadn’t heard what Tom had said, the seahorse nodded, frowning slightly. “He wants to see you right away. Something about Jared.”

“He knows!” Christian exclaimed to himself, a deep frown on his features as he tried to figure out how Jim had learned about this new information. Christian had been careful and he knew for a fact that Chad and Jared hadn’t breathed a word about this. As he made his way towards Jim’s throne room, Jim smiled and told him to come in when he noticed he was there. To himself, Christian whispered, “I mustn’t overreact. I must remain calm.” When he spoke, his voice was about five octaves higher than it should have been, the crab coughing and returning his voice back to normal. “Yes, Your Majesty?”

Smiling to himself, Jim looked down at Christian and explained, “Now, Christian, I’m concerned about Jared.” His expression turned somewhat serious as he asked, “Have you noticed he’s been acting peculiar lately?” Christian had been spending the most time with Jared, so he figured that Christian was the best one to ask. 

He was trying to act as though he didn’t know what Jim was talking about, but Christian had never been really good at lying; especially when it was the sea king he was lying to. “Peculiar?” he asked, giving a small shrug to add to the image of not having a clue about what was going on.

Jim returned Christian’s shrug as he explained, “You know, moaning about, daydreaming, singing to himself?” When Christian shrugged again, he slowly shook his head, looking down skeptically at the crab. “You haven’t noticed, hmm?” At this, Christian started stumbling for words, which was peculiar, but Jim didn’t really care; Jared was in love! “Christian…I know you’ve been keeping something from me; something about Jared…being in love?”

Finally, Christian caved, dropping to his knees as if to beg for forgiveness as he explained, “I tried to stop him, sir! He wouldn’t listen. I told him to stay away from humans; they are bad, they are trouble, they –”

His begging and explaining was cut short however when Jim pushed himself away from his throne. “Humans?” he asked, his happy, giddy mood turning to anger as quickly as a light being switched on. “What about humans?!”

Realizing that he had just burst the bubble and Jim must have been talking about something else, Christian chuckled, giving his head a small shake. “Humans?” he laughed, his head shaking more quickly now. “Who said anything about humans?” He knew that it was probably too late to placate the sea king now, but it was worth a shot as far as he was concerned. After all, he’d told Jared he wasn’t going to blab.

**~~**

Meanwhile, off in a different part of the sea, Chad tugged Jared along happily towards the cave that held all of Jared’s human treasures. “Chad, why can’t you just tell me what this is all about?” Jared asked, a small chuckle escaping him at the sight of his friend being so excited about something. 

A wide smile came to Chad’s lips as he explained, “You’ll see; it’s a surprise.” He knew that there wasn’t really a special occasion or anything, but he’d found this little gift and he wanted to give it to Jared because he knew it would make him happy. And after the little argument he’d had with his father earlier, Chad was guessing Jared needed a little bit of cheering up.

Once they entered the cave, Jared’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the large statue in front of him. “Oh Chad, you’re the best!” Jared exclaimed, hugging his friend before he swam closer to the statue taking a closer look at it. “It looks just like Jensen. It even has his eyes.” Dreamily, Jared smiled at the statue before he asked, “Why, Jensen, run away with you? This is all so-so sudden.” He was just about to say yes as he turned around, only to be met with the sight of his father; and he looked pissed. “Dad?!” Jared exclaimed, quickly swimming a little further away from the statue of Jensen.

“I consider myself to be a reasonable merman,” Jim started, eyes on Jared and the statue he was hiding behind him. “I set certain rules, and I expect those rules to be obeyed.” When Jared tried to argue with him, Jim interrupted, “Is it true that you rescued a human from drowning?”

Biting into his lip, Jared tried to explain. “Dad, I had to.” Before he could continue with his explanation however, Jim interrupted once again, causing Jared to cringe slightly.

Angrily, Jim yelled, “Contact between the human world and the mer-world is strictly forbidden. Jared, you know that! Everyone knows that!” Hearing his son explain that the human would have died, he merely shrugged, giving an unfazed grunt. “One less human to worry about!” he spat, his hatred for humans coming out through his tone.

Now, it was Jared’s turn to get angry, the younger merman swimming closer to his father and using his height in what he hoped to be a threatening manner. He was going to stick up for Jensen because his father didn’t have a clue about this wonderful man. “You don’t even know him!” Jared barked, frowning deeply; Jared knew Jensen and he wanted to get to know him even more.

Jim scoffed when Jared tried to stick up for the human, not about to buy that one. “Know him? I don’t have to know him,” Jim assured his son. “They’re all the same. Spineless, savage, harpooning, fish-eaters, incapable of feeling.”

Before he could stop himself, Jared shouted, “Dad, I love him!” His eyes widened slightly at his own words, though he quickly hid his own surprised expression. It was the truth and if his father needed to hear it out loud to believe it then Jared was going to let Jim have it. “I love Jensen.”

Shocked, Jim shook his head, muttering the word “no” softly as he processed what his son had just said and thought of solutions as to how he was going to fix this problem. “Have you lost your senses completely?” he nearly screamed, managing to keep his cool somewhat for now. “He’s a human; you’re a merman! It’s not right!”

“I don’t care!” Jared argued, knowing that he and Jensen could find a way to make it work. Somehow, someway they would find a way to be together; because true love was supposed to be able to conquer all. At least that’s what Christian had told him when he was younger.

Jared’s answer finally made Jim snap, his resolve fading. “So help me, Jared,” he warned, shaking his head. “I’m going to get through to you. And if this is the only way, then so be it.” With that, Jim began to blast Jared’s artifacts with his trident, the valuables bursting into nothing with each flick of Jim’s wrist. Finally, he pointed the trident towards the statue of Jensen and blasted that as well, Jared having moved away when Jim started destroying his other findings.

The whole time he had been destroying the cave, Jim heard Jared screaming at him to stop, but it was like he had been a man possessed and he couldn’t stop. When he finally blasted the statue, Jared started crying and that seemed to get through to Jim, the older merman turning to leave, shoulders slumped in his shame. He hadn’t wanted to do that, but he needed a way to get through to Jared and that had been his only option at the time that he could see.

Unlike Jim, Christian stayed behind, needing to apologize for what he had done in hopes that Jared would forgive him. After all, he hadn’t meant to let the little human thing slip, but the sea king was very persuasive. “Jared, I –” he started, jaw snapping shut when Jared told him to just go away through his tears. He knew he wasn’t going to get much out of Jared at that point, so he merely turned and left, taking Chad with him.

When Jared was alone, Mark and Fredric emerged from the shadows, swimming closer to Jared as they shook their head sadly. “Poor child,” Mark cooed once he was close enough to Jared, though he spoke to Fredric, not wanting to risk blowing this one opportunity they had to trap Jared in Genevieve’s web.

Also speaking to his companion, Fredric answered, “Poor sweet child.” He and Mark had been sent to watch Jared and wait for this exact moment and now it finally here; his body vibrated with excitement at the thought of adding Jared to Genevieve’s garden of souls and, more importantly, the treats he and Mark would receive for making it all happen.

“He has a very serious problem,” Mark explained as he swam just a bit closer to Jared, looking down at the younger male. Oh, Genevieve had been right; this was going to be too easy. Then again, he had never been one for a challenge, so this was good.

Sighing, Fredric whined, “If only there was something we could do.” He smiled widely up at his companion, knowing that in a few moments, they were going to have Jared exactly where they wanted him.

A wide smile came to Mark’s lips in answer to Fredric’s smile. “But there is something,” he explained, looking to Jared once more to see if they had caught the younger male’s attention yet. And boy they had, which meant it was only going to take one more little nudge before Jared was eating out of the palm of Genevieve’s hands.

Slowly, Jared looked from one electric eel to the other, wiping away a stray tear as it slid down his cheek. “Who-Who are you?” he asked, knowing that the two of them looked familiar, but he wasn’t quite sure where he had seen them before.

Again, Mark smiled as he gave his head a small shake. “Don’t be scared,” he whispered softly, daring to get a little closer to Jared as he listened to Fredric answer Jared’s question. This was going to be the hard part, he knew so it was best to just take it slow.

“We represent someone who can help you,” Fredric explained, not wanting to give away too much all at once and overwhelm Jared. After all, Genevieve was a very popular individual around here, even if it wasn’t for the right reasons, and he didn’t want to lose Jared because of it before they even had a chance to make him the offer.

Mark piped in then, giving just a little bit more information to rope Jared in. “Someone who can make all your dreams come true.” Now in unison, Mark and Fredric smiled, “Just imagine…” Again, Mark spoke alone, “You and your prince…” Fredric joined in again as they finished, “Together forever.”

Frowning, Jared shook his head. “I don’t understand,” he mumbled, not sure what these two were getting at. The only person who could help him right now was his father, but the older male wasn’t willing to give Jensen a chance.

Another grin came to Mark’s lips as he went in for the kill, so to speak. “Genevieve has great powers,” he explained, knowing the second Jared’s eyes widened that he was well aware of just who Genevieve was. He just hoped that knowledge didn’t sway the young male’s decision because Genevieve would not be happy if they showed up alone tonight.

“The sea witch?” Jared asked, shocked that these two would even suggest such a thing. “That’s…I couldn’t possibly…no!” he answered, shaking his head as he waved his hand in the direction of the cave. “Get out of here! Leave me alone!” He slowly rested his head on his arms once more and resumed crying, knowing there was nothing he could do to make his father understand where he was coming from.

When they were turned down, Mark and Fredric turned towards the entrance of the cave and began to swim away. “Suit yourself,” Fredric mumbled with a one shouldered shrug, silently hoping that Mark had a plan that would bring Jared back on their side. He did not want to go see Genevieve without Jared; nothing good was going to come from that.

Almost as if he were mocking Fredric, Mark gave his own shrug as he muttered, “It was only a suggestion.” As he swam past the broken statue of Jensen, he whipped the statue’s face towards Jared with his tail, winking at his companion when he received a confused look from Fredric. He had a feeling this was going to get the younger male back on their side.

It was a bad decision and Jared knew it, but this may very well be the only solution to his problem and he knew that as well. Slowly, he picked up the piece of the statue, running his fingers over the cold marble. “Wait,” he ordered, eyes closing as he breathed out a slow breath. When he was answered by the eels, Jared looked them both in the eye as he instructed, “Take me to her.”

Outside of the cave, Chad sniffled softly, very upset about the scene that had played before him a few moments ago between Jared and his father. “Poor Jared,” he mumbled, giving his head a small shake. Deep down, he knew that Christian probably hadn’t meant to tell, but that didn’t change the fact that he had; Christian had blabbed, and now look what happened!

A deep frown marred Christian’s features as he slowly shook his head. “I didn’t mean to tell,” he verified Chad’s silent guess. “It was an accident.” If he could take it all back and just keep his mouth shut, he would have; but what was done was done and there was nothing he could do about it now other than apologize. Suddenly, Jared passed by him, following two electric eels who had once been glued to the sea witch’s hip. When she disappeared after her banishing, they’d gone too and no one had heard from them since. “Jared, where are you going?” he asked, not caring that the younger male probably wanted nothing to do with him at the moment. “What are you doing here with this riff-raff?”

Defiantly, Jared answered, not even bothering to slow down, “I’m going to see Genevieve.” He didn’t have to ask permission to see the sea witch; he was sixteen dammit, and he was going to do whatever he wanted. Just like he wasn’t going to let his father tell him he couldn’t be with Jensen. This was his life and he was going to live it the way he wanted to.

Mouth dropping almost to the floor, Christian gasped, “Jared, no! No, she’s a demon; she’s a monster!” He couldn’t believe that Jared was doing this; surely he hadn’t been that upset by the display his father had left earlier, could he have been? Jared had only known this human, hadn’t even known per se, but seen him once!

“Why don’t you go tell my father?” Jared spat sarcastically, still following Mark and Fredric and paying hardly any attention to Christian and Chad. “You’re good at that.” It was a little harsh, but Jared was allowed to be upset when his father had come and destroyed his things because Christian couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Shocked, Christian fumbled, “But…But, I…” When Jared still didn’t stop, Christian rolled his eyes, slapping Chad’s side as he instructed, “Come on.” If Jared was going to do this anyway, it was probably better that he had a little back up there to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

**~~**

It didn’t take long to get to Genevieve’s cavern, Mark and Fredric leading Jared inside where he got tangled up in the sea witch’s garden, Jared gasping softly as he fought to free himself. Once he had, he moved about more cautiously, biting into his bottom lip as he realized that this may not have been such a great idea a little belatedly.

A wide smile came to Genevieve’s lips when she saw Jared entering her home. “Come in. Come in, my child,” she ordered, emerging from the shadows. “We mustn’t lurk in doorways; it’s rude. One might question your upbringing.” Once Jared was in the cavern, Genevieve got back to business, cutting right to the chase; beating around the bush wasn’t her style. “Now then, you’re here because you have a thing for this human; this…prince fellow. Not that I blame you; he is quite the catch, isn’t he?” Smiling once more, she wrapped her arm around Jared as she explained, “Well angel fish, the solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself.”

Although when he came here, his intention had been to refrain from making deals with the sea witch, this just seemed like something that was too good to pass up. “Can you do that?” he asked in amazement, knowing that if he were human, it would have been a lot easier to get Jensen’s attention. After all, unless Jensen was around the ocean, there was no way Jared could even see him.

She smiled apologetically as she chuckled. “My dear, sweet child,” Genevieve started, giving Jared a small shake. “That’s what I do; it’s what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk like yourself; poor souls with no one else to turn to.” Pulling away from Jared a bit, Genevieve explained, “Now, here’s the deal. I will make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days. Got that? Three days. Now listen, this is important.” Her voice got a bit more serious as she moved on to the stipulations of the deal. “Before the sun sets on the third day, you’ve got to get dear ol’ princey to fall in love with you. And a kiss isn’t going to cut it sweet cheeks. You have to get Jensen to make love to you.” Shrugging, she finished, “If you can get him to do this before the sun sets on the third day, you’ll remain human, permanently; but if he doesn’t, you turn back into a merman and you belong to me.”

When Christian tried to warn Jared not to take the deal, Genevieve shot a glare at her minions, smiling once more when they silenced the nuisance. “If…I become human,” Jared started, biting into his bottom lip once more, “I’ll never be with my father or sisters again?” He wasn’t sure if he could do that; he loved his family, even if they didn’t always see eye-to-eye.

“That’s right,” Genevieve answered. “But you’ll have your man. Life’s full of tough choices, isn’t it?” Leaning in closer, she whispered, “Oh and there is one more thing; we haven’t discussed the subject of payment.” She shrugged as she pulled back slightly. “You can’t get something for nothing, you know.” When Jared started to tell her he didn’t have anything to give, she interjected, “I’m not asking for much. Just a token, really; a trifle. You’ll never even miss it. What I want from you is…your voice.”

Frowning, Jared asked, “My voice?” That didn’t make a lot of sense to him. Without his voice, there was no way for Jared to talk to Jensen. How was that supposed to work? At Genevieve’s nod, Jared frowned deeper. “But without my voice, how can I –”

Before Jared could finish his question, Genevieve explained, “You’ll have your looks! Your handsome face! And don’t underestimate the importance of body language!” Laughing, she reached for the ingredients she’d need for the spell as she whipped up a quick contract. “Just sign the scroll and we’ve got a deal.”

A wild cackle escaped Genevieve once Jared signed the contract, the paper disappearing as quickly as it had appeared while Genevieve threw some ingredients into her cauldron. “Paluga, sarruga, come winds of the Caspian Sea. Now rings us glossitis and max laryngitis, la voce to me!” Turning to Jared, she ordered, “Now sing!” 

At the command, Jared started singing, frowning slightly as Genevieve yelled at him to keep singing, though he followed the order. Suddenly, a giant magical hand appeared and ripped out his voice, Jared’s hand covering his throat as his voice box was given to Genevieve by the hand. 

He didn’t have much time to miss it before pain overcame his entire body, the younger merman thrashing and writhing in the water as his fin split in two and morphed into legs and his gills vanished, leaving only lungs which wouldn’t work under water. Jared tried to take a breath, but only inhaled water, causing him to cough and sputter as he tried to kick his legs out and get to the surface, though he was unskilled with the new limbs and he couldn’t manage.

Just as he thought he was done for, Christian and Chad came to his rescue, each sliding under one of his armpits and swimming towards the surface. When his head finally breached the surface, Jared took in a deep breath, coughing up water and trying to catch his breath as his friends swam him behind a nearby rock where the water was shallow enough for Jared to sit in. There, he slumped against the rock, absolutely exhausted.


	4. Chapter Four

Jensen sighed as he stopped strumming his guitar, looking over at Icarus where he sat on the sandy beach. “That voice,” he muttered to his pooch. “I can’t get it out of my head. I’ve looked everywhere, Icarus.” Shaking his head, he asked, as if the dog would know, “Where could he be?”

Unbeknownst to Jensen, Jared was right on the other side of the rocks, slumped against the cool surface with Christian and Chad beside him, also exhausted from having to help Jared out of the water when he had first gotten his legs. Now, Jared was looking down at his new limbs, amazed that the spell had actually worked and he was on land without choking to death. All he had to do now was find Jensen.

Suddenly, Misha came over to where Jared and his friends were sitting, perching himself on top of one of Jared’s new knees. “Well, look what the catfish dragged in!” he exclaimed, smiling at Jared. “Look at ya! There’s something different. Don’t tell me!” he instructed, wanting to guess what was so different about the young merman. “I got it! It’s your hairdo, right? You’ve been using the dinglehopper, right?” When Jared shook his head, Misha frowned, holding his chin as he tried again. “Well, let me see; new seashells? No new seashells.” After a moment, Misha shook his head as he sighed, “I gotta admit, I can’t put my foot on it right now, but if I just stand here long enough, I know that I’ll –”

Unable to take it anymore, Christian shouted, “He’s got legs, you idiot!” He liked Misha as much as the next person, but sometimes the seagull was just a little too much to handle. “He traded his voice to the sea witch and got legs. Jeez, man.”

“I knew that,” Misha lied, rolling his eyes as he hopped off Jared’s leg. He hadn’t wanted to be told, but now that Christian had let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, it was a lot easier to tell what was so different about Jared now; he was kind of grateful for that because it would have bugged him all day otherwise.

A small frown came to Chad’s lips as he explained, “Jared’s been turned into a human. He’s gotta make the prince fall in love with him, and he’s gotta make-make love to him.” Chad wasn’t really sure what making love was, but he had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be easy. After all, if the sea witch had made that the stipulation, it was probably going to be damn near impossible to achieve. But he had faith in Jared; his friend could do anything that he put his mind to.

Christian’s frown matched Chad’s as he added, “And he’s only go three days. Just look at him. On legs; on human legs! My nerves are shot! This is a catastrophe! What would his father say?” Answering his own question, Christian continued to rant, “I’ll tell you what his father would say; he’d say that he’s gonna kill himself a crab, that’s what his father would say! I’m gonna march myself straight home now and tell him just like I should have done the minute –” His sentence was cut short when Jared grabbed him and shook his head adamantly, begging him with his eyes not to do that. “And don’t you shake your head at me, young man. Maybe there’s still time. If we could get that witch to give you back your voice, you could go home with all the normal fish, and just be…just be…just be miserable for the rest of your life.”

As he spoke, Christian realized that was the exact opposite of what he wanted for Jared. If the younger male wanted to be with this Jensen character, then Christian supposed he would help him as long as it made Jared happy. “All right, all right,” he muttered with a small shake of his head. “I’ll try to help you find that prince.” Another sigh escaped him as he muttered to himself, “Boy, what a soft-shell I’m turning out to be.”

Smiling, Misha jumped back up onto Jared’s leg as he started, “Now Jared, I’m tellin’ ya, if you wanna be a human, the first thing you gotta do is dress like one.” Quickly, he began looking around the area for something to put Jared in. “Now, lemme see,” he muttered, biting the inside of his cheek as he continued to search. Spotting an old sail, Misha’s eyes widened, grabbing it up quickly and wrapping it around Jared’s waist, making him look like he was wearing an over-sized skirt. He gave a loud wolf-whistle then, nodding appreciatively. “You look great, kid. You look…sensational.”

When Icarus came barreling over and started sniffing at Jared, Misha quickly flew away, wanting to escape the hairy beast as Jared climbed up onto a rock, not sure what Icarus was doing. When the beast had been on the ship and Jared had been in the water, it was fine; it couldn’t get to him there. But now, there was no telling what it was going to do and Jared was honestly a little scared.

“Icarus!” Jensen called, running after his dog, eyes widening when he saw Jared on the rock. “Icarus…quiet, Icarus! What’s gotten into you?” he asked the dog, pulling him away from Jared. “Are you okay?” he asked Jared, chuckling as he held Icarus in his arms. “I’m sorry if this knucklehead scared you. He just gets excited when he sees new people. He’s harmless really.” Jensen lost his train of thought as he gazed at Jared, the younger male’s eyes meeting and locking with Jensen’s. “You…seem very familiar…to me,” he explained, brow creasing in confusion as he took a step closer to Jared. “Have we met?”

It hit Jensen like a brick all of a sudden, the older male smiling widely as he answered his own question. “We have met! I knew it! You’re the one…the one I’ve been looking for. What’s your name?” When Jared mouthed his name but no words came out, Jensen slumped a little, knowing that Jared wasn’t his mystery man right then. But he seemed so damn familiar! “What’s wrong? What is it? You can’t speak?” The shake of Jared’s head only confirmed Jensen’s worries, his face falling more. “Oh…then you couldn’t be who I thought.”

In his attempt to get Jensen to understand, Jared tried to pantomime that he was the man Jensen had been searching for, but Genevieve had taken his voice. Jensen wasn’t getting it though and when Jared tried harder, he fell into Jensen, nearly knocking them both on their asses.

When Jared fell into him, Jensen locked his knees, keeping them both on their feet as his arms wrapped around Jared’s torso. “Whoa, careful; easy,” he muttered, gently releasing Jared, though he kept his hand close in case Jared fell again. “Damn, you must have really been through something,” he sighed to himself, giving his head a small shake. “Come on,” he smiled, gently taking Jared’s elbow and leading him towards the castle at the top of the beach. “You’ll be okay; I’m gonna take care of you,” he promised with a small nod.

**~~**

Once he was in the castle, Jensen had an older woman draw a hot bath for him, the prince smiling at Jared as he waited for the woman to come fetch him when the water was ready. It didn’t take long for Samantha to run the bath water, the older woman smiling as she came back into Jensen’s room, knocking on the door. “Jensen, his bath is ready,” she informed softly, smiling at Jared.

Hearing that the bath as ready, Jensen smiled, turning his attention to Samantha, “Thank you Samantha,” he answered, once again taking Jared’s elbow as he led him towards the bathroom. Jensen wasn’t about to be in there while Jared was trying to get cleaned up, figuring that it was best to give the young male his privacy. “Samantha, maybe you should stay close? You know, just in case he needs help, or something.”

When Samantha agreed to be there for Jared, Jensen headed out to the main dining area where he met up with Jeffrey, smiling widely at the older male. Meanwhile, Samantha grabbed Jared’s “clothes” and held them up in her hands, frowning deeply at the old sail. “Washed up from a shipwreck, huh?” she asked, that having been the story Jensen had fabricated to explain how Jared got here. “Oh, you poor thing; we’ll have you feeling better in no time. But…first order of business, I’m going to get this washed for you.”

As Jared took his bath, playing with the bubbles in the water more than anything, Samantha tossed the old sail towards Alona and Cindy, figuring they could wash it if they wanted to or just throw it out. After all, if Jared was going to be staying here, he was going to need some new clothes so he didn’t look like such a bum.

The women talked amongst themselves as they washed Jared’s clothes, muttering about how they wished they could have Jensen as their prince and this whole thing the king and his wife were doing making Jensen sail half way across the world to find a bride was a little ridiculous; after all, the last time, Jensen had nearly drowned!

“Oh Jensen, be reasonable,” Jeffrey sighed as he shook his head, rolling his eyes. “Nice young men don’t just swim around rescuing people in the middle of the ocean and then flutter off into oblivion like some –”

Before he could finish his sentence, Jensen interrupted, “I’m telling you Jeffrey, he was real!” He almost mocked Jeffrey as he shook his head and rolled his own eyes, honestly a little upset that Jeffrey thought he was losing his mind or something. “I’m gonna find this guy and I’m going to bring him here so you can see him and stop looking at me like I’m crazy.”

Just as Jeffrey opened his mouth to speak, Samantha entered the room, smiling at Jared who was following slowly behind her. However, when Jared seemed to stop in the doorway and wouldn’t come any further, Samantha chuckled, giving her head a small shake as she motioned for Jared to continue into the room. “Come on honey; don’t be shy,” she instructed, taking Jared’s elbow gently and pulling him into the room. 

Even in sweat pants and a T-shirt, Jensen couldn’t help but think Jared was a vision, his mouth suddenly going dry at the sight of the younger male. “You, uh, you look good,” Jensen smiled, giving Samantha a small nod to let her know she did well with him. 

A wide smile came to both Jared and Samantha’s lips when Jensen said Jared looked good. “Well, we didn’t have any clothes that would fit the boy, so I had to just shove him into a pair of old sweats and one of your T-shirts,” Samantha explained. “I was planning on taking him shopping tomorrow; if you don’t already have plans, maybe you should tag along.”

Now it was Jensen’s turn to smile, shooting a quick glance in Jeffrey’s direction before he answered, “That sounds great. I’m free all day. And it will be good for me to get out of this place for a few hours.” He had been cooped up here far too long; his parents were being extra cautious now because of his little accident the last time he had been on the sea and now Jensen was only allowed to go down to the edge of the sand. The rules were very clear; he wasn’t even allowed in the water!

Jeffrey quickly ushered Jared to the table then, insisting, “Come, come, come, you must be famished.” He pulled a chair out for Jared and helped him sit in it, noticing the younger male was still a little unsteady on his feet. “Let me help you, son. There we go – quite comfy, huh?” A small frown came to his lips when Jared seemed to get very excited about the fork beside his plate, eyes widening when Jared picked it up and started combing his hair with it. “Uh…it’s-it’s not often that have such an…interesting dinner guest, huh Jensen?”

It didn’t take Jared long to realize that everyone was staring at him, a small frown on his lips as he put the fork down, honestly a little embarrassed. However, he sees a pipe and quickly grabs that up, nodding when Jeffrey asks if he likes it. Jared didn’t really listen to whatever else the older male was saying as he blew into the pipe, waiting for the music Misha had mentioned. Unfortunately, nothing came out of the snarfblat except a cloud of smoke, which covered Jeffrey’s face because he was so close.

Laughter erupted from Jensen when Jared blew the contents of the pipe into his face. He heard Samantha mumble something off to the side, but he was too focused on Jared and the way he looked so damn clueless about everything; it was adorable. When he noticed that Jeffrey was glaring at him though, Jensen coughed, trying to make it seem like he hadn’t been about to piss his pants laughing. “Um…sorry Jeffrey,” he mumbled, trying to make it sound like he was genuinely sorry that Jared had gotten him dirty, but it was hard.

Seeing Jensen laugh like that brought a wide smile to Samantha’s lips, the older woman sighing happily as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Why Jensen, that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile in weeks.” Unlike everyone else in the castle, Samantha was very aware of Jensen’s preference towards men. After all, it wasn’t hard to tell if you were paying attention to Jensen. It started in high school and then progressed from there. Of course, Jensen had never been with a man before because he was worried about what others thought she was sure, but she could see the way his eyes lit up when he was with Jared; and Jared’s eyes lit up at just the mention of Jensen.

Although Jensen was still a little embarrassed for the way Jeffrey had been glaring at him, he smiled at Samantha. Sometimes he wondered if the older woman didn’t know about his little secret; after all, she was the only one in the castle who didn’t try to hook him up with some random strangers and bug him about finding a princess. No, that was everyone else’s job.

“Oh, very amusing,” Jeffrey muttered dejectedly as he wiped the soot off his face. “Samantha, my dear, what’s for dinner?” It was getting close to five o’clock and they still haven’t fed Jensen; he didn’t like taking the younger male off his schedule and everyone knew it. Sure, Jensen didn’t really care about the schedule, but that’s why his family had hired Jeffrey.

At the mention of dinner, Samantha smiled, looking towards the kitchen. “Oooh, you’re gonna love it,” she exclaimed. “Chef Michael’s been fixing his specialty; stuffed crab.” She knew how much Jeffrey loved stuffed crab, and she figured he was going to need it since he had been through a lot today already, having Jensen laugh at him and all.

At the mention of stuffed crab, Jared’s eyes widened marginally. He wasn’t exactly sure how one went about stuffing a crab, but it didn’t sound very enjoyable. Suddenly, he remembered that before Icarus had come over and scared him onto the rock, Christian had jumped into his pocket and he was now here in the castle somewhere. Looking to the sky, Jared sent up a silent prayer that Christian was all right and he wouldn’t end up on someone’s plate.

**~~**

Christian watched wide eyed as Michael prepared the crabs for cooking, feeling sorry for the little guys who couldn’t get away in time and also worried for himself because he was in the enemy territory and there was no telling what was going to happen to him if he was discovered. He didn’t want to die; he was too young to die!

As he cooked, Michael hummed to himself, the noise making his loneliness a little better since he was the only one back there. He reached for ingredients without even looking at what he was doing, the chef was that good at his job. The one time he did look however, he spotted a crab, his eyes going wide when the crustacean hopped back away from him when he went to grab him. He quickly grabbed for Christian again and this time he caught him. “What is this?” he asked, pulling Christian close to his face to get a better look.

Once Christian was close enough, he pinched the chef’s nose, effectively getting out of the human’s grasp. As soon as he hit the counter, he set off at a dead run, knowing that if he were caught again, he wouldn’t have a chance at escape.

Letting out a loud battle cry, Michael set off trying to find the rest of his dinner, knocking over a cabinet in the process. He thought he saw the crab go under one of the plates and now he was tearing apart one plate at a time. “Come out you little pipsqueak and fight like a man!” he called to the crustacean, smirking as he pulled the top off the next plate, ready to start ripping it apart too.

However, before he could start looking through this plate, Samantha shouted, “Michael! What are you doing?” She knew this man had a very strange reputation, but his cooking was phenomenal, and they had never had a problem with him before. Now she was questioning her decision to have Jeffrey hire him, honestly.

“Well…I-I was just…um…” Michael stumbled, trying to find the words to explain what he had been doing without making himself look like an idiot. Finally, unable to explain it the right way, Michael merely slumped his shoulders and put the top back on the plate before setting them on the tray to be served. “I’m sorry, Madame,” he apologized with a small shake of his head. “Dinner is ready to be served.”

While dinner was being served, Jeffrey was prattling on about something though Jensen wasn’t really listening. He was more focused on Jared, the two men nearly making love to each other with their eyes from where they sat at the table. Realizing that Jeffrey had asked him a question, Jensen looked over at the older male, frowning. “I’m sorry Jeffrey, what was that?” he asked, not having heard a single word of the conversation Jeffrey was having with himself.

Rolling his eyes, Jeffrey explained, “I was just thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to help this young man find a nice place to stay tomorrow. I mean, I don’t think your parents would appreciate having some –”

When Jeffrey lifted his plate, Jared’s eyes widened, seeing Christian cowering in the roughage. He noticed that Jensen and Jeffrey were paying more attention to each other now and not him, so he quickly lifted his own plate cover and motioned for Christian to hide there; after all, if he stayed in Jeffrey’s plate he would be a goner. He sighed softly in relief when Christian made a run for his plate and covered it as soon as Christian was safe inside, leaning heavily on the metal cover.

“Easy, Jeffrey,” Jensen warned, not really liking where this conversation was going. He didn’t want this stranger to leave so soon; hell, he didn’t even know anything about him and Jensen wanted to keep him here with him. And he had a feeling that after shopping tomorrow, it was only going to be worse. Jensen was actually a little convinced that he was falling for Jared already. “Besides, we’re going shopping tomorrow. And then I was planning on taking Jared on a tour of the kingdom. I don’t think my parents would mind if I had a friend stay here with us for a while, do you?” Smiling at Jared, Jensen asked, “Would you like to join me on a tour of my kingdom tomorrow after we get home?”

Again, Jeffrey rolled his eyes when Jared nodded, not too sure about this plan. “Wonderful,” he muttered sarcastically. “Now, let’s eat before this crab wanders off my plate.” His eyes grew wide when he opened his lid once more and the crab was actually gone, looking from Jensen to Jared and then back to his plate, puzzled.


	5. Chapter Five

Jared smiled as he watched Jensen play with Icarus, the younger male anticipating their trip the next day and wondering what he had in store for him. This was the end of the first day after all, which meant there were only two more days left before Jared became a merman again and belonged to the sea witch. Therefore, Jared needed to find out what it meant to make love and then try to get Jensen to make love to him. It was going to be a hard task, but Jared was up for the challenge. He had seen Genevieve for this exact moment and he was going to pass the test so he could have it forever.

“This has got to be, without a doubt, the most humiliating day of my life,” Christian mumbled as he paced back and forth across Jared’s dresser. “I hope you appreciate what I go through for you, young man. Now…we got to make a plan to get that boy to kiss you. Tomorrow, when the two of you are together, you gotta look your best.” Smiling, he turned towards Jared more and started to bat his eyes. “You gotta bat your eyes…like this. And you gotta pucker your lips…like this.” Seeing that Jared was more interested in Jensen than what he was saying, Christian shook his head, rolling his eyes. “You are hopeless child, you know that? Completely hopeless.”

**~~**

Breaths coming out in harsh pants, Tom finally found the sea king, his face set in grim lines as he shook his head when Jim asked if there was any sign of them. “No, Your Majesty,” Tom answered. “We’ve searched everywhere. We’ve found no trace of your son, or Christian.” He felt sorrowful for the older male because he knew that the last time Jim and Jared had been together, they’d gotten into a fight; he could only imagine how bad Jim felt now that Jared was missing.

Anger rose deep within Jim, making his blood boil. “Well, keep looking,” he ordered. “Leave no shell unturned, no coral unexplored. Let no one in this kingdom sleep until he’s safe at home.” When he received the nod from Tom before the little seahorse swam away, Jim turned towards the cavern where he had last seen Jared, giving his head a small shake. “Oh, what have I done?” he asked the empty waters, his frown deepening as he swam off towards his throne room.

**~~**

Morning arrived at the castle and Jared found himself smiling as he walked down the stairs, a new pair of sweatpants and a different T-shirt clinging to his body like a glove because he was so tall and broad. His smile only widened when he saw Jensen, the younger male moving closer to him and practically gluing himself to the prince’s side as they waited for Samantha to get ready for their shopping trip. 

At the last minute however, Samantha told Jensen that she just remembered she had plans with Jeffrey for the day and she would have to sit this little trip out. She then wished Jensen and Jared a happy shopping spree before she all but shoved the two men out of the castle. Once they were gone, she smiled to herself, feeling very pleased with her decision to send the two off on their own so they could bond.

With a small frown, Jensen shrugged as he turned to Jared. “So, I guess it’s just me and you today then. Hope you don’t mind.” When Jared shook his head and plastered himself to Jensen’s side again, the older male smiled widely, opening the limousine door for Jared to climb in before he crawled in himself. “Take us to the closest clothing shop please, Mark,” Jensen instructed before he leaned back in his seat once more and smiled over at Jared again.

As Mark drove, Jensen and Jared merely stared at each other, communicating with their eyes somewhat, Jared smiling the entire time. He and Jensen were getting really close and he was more than happy to let this thing between them grow and get better. 

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the store, Jensen thanking Mark for the ride and telling him he could head on back to the castle and come pick them up later; after all, he had plans to take Jared on a tour, so he was going to be a while. Inside the store, Jensen got Jared to try on some different clothes; suits for special occasions, sweat pants and T-shirts for bed and also jeans for regular, every day clothes to wear. Once they were finished with the clothes, Jensen grabbed their bags and led Jared to a nearby restaurant, getting them both some lunch before they headed off to a different store. 

Mark showed up to take them back to the castle about half an hour before nightfall, offering to take Jensen and Jared’s bags into the house for him so Jensen could take Jared onto the water which he had planned to do when they got back. After thanking Mark for his troubles, Jensen grabbed Jared’s hand and pulled him into a small boat before he shoved it into the water and hopped in, leading the boat into the middle of the lake.

A wide smile came to Jared’s lips as he touched the cool water with his fingertips, attention quickly returning to Jensen as his smile grew wider. Sometimes, Jared missed the sea, but being with Jensen was enough; though sometimes he wondered if Jensen returned his feelings because if there were other people around, Jensen seemed to not be as interested in Jared as he was when they were alone. Then again, maybe it was just a human thing and Jared didn’t understand it. Maybe that was something to talk to Misha about.

For the boat ride, Jensen brought cookies for Jared and himself to snack on, the older male smiling as he watched Jared munch away on his cookie. The younger male got a little chocolate on the corner of his lip, which made Jensen chuckle. “Here,” he muttered, leaning closer to Jared and wiping the chocolate off the younger male’s lip with the pad of his thumb. “You had a little chocolate right there.” Leaning back once more, Jensen sighed, a small frown on his lips. “You know, I feel really bad not knowing your name.” HE quickly perked up however when he smiled, “Hey, maybe I can guess. Is it…Mike?” Jared shook his head. “Okay….how about Adam?” Again, Jared shook his head. “Jeremy?”

When Jared shook his head for a third time, Christian rolled his eyes. They were never going to get anywhere with this stupid name game they were playing. And since Jared was on a time frame, Christian decided that he would speed things up for them. “Jared,” he hissed towards the boat from where he was lounging on a piece of grass. “His name is Jared.”

“Jared?” Jensen asked, a small frown on his lips. When Jared nodded happily, Jensen repeated him name with a smile. “Jared, I like that name. Okay…so I can call you Jared now and you’ll know who I’m talking to.” He didn’t like running around not calling Jared anything but ‘hey you,’ or ‘hey there.’ It bothered him.

Now that Jensen finally knew his name, Jared felt like they were even more connected than they had been before. His lip was still tingling from when Jensen had touched it and Jared just wished that Jensen would do it again; touch him anywhere really and he would be fine with that. It seemed as though Jensen was keeping his hands to himself now though, which Jared didn’t like. 

Slowly, Jared leaned in closer to Jensen, his hand moving to cup the older male’s cheek. His eyes ticked down to Jensen’s lips briefly before he licked his own, eyes meeting Jensen’s once more to let the older male know exactly what he wanted. Jared wasn’t too sure how to kiss, but he had a feeling Jensen would know what he was doing and he could just go from there. The best way to learn after all was by doing and Jared wanted to learn everything he could about the human ways.

Jensen’s eyes fluttered closed when Jared cupped his cheek, the older male allowing his tongue to dart out and lick his own lips as he opened his eyes once more, staring at Jared. Before he could give it much thought, Jensen leaned in and kissed Jared, lips crushing against the younger male’s as a soft moan escaped him, the sound being swallowed up in their kiss. His fingers tangled in Jared’s longish hair, pulling the younger male closer to him as he traced the seam of Jared’s lips with his tongue, begging for entrance.

Although Jared had no idea what he was doing, he allowed Jensen to kiss him and move him whichever way he wanted. It felt really good to have Jensen this close to him and Jared needed to be even closer, pressing himself against Jensen so there was barely any space between the two of them. 

Suddenly, the boat started to rock moments before it tipped over, sending both Jensen and Jared into the water. Jensen managed to get his head above water and saw Jared struggling, the younger male still not too good with his new legs. Luckily, Jensen swam over to him and wrapped his arms around his waist, holding Jared close to him. “Hang on Jared,” he muttered into the younger male’s ear, trying to calm Jared down because he seemed to be shaken up. “I’ve gotcha; it’s okay.”

Once Jensen had Jared out of the water, the younger male seemed to calm down though he was still clinging to Jensen. Not that the older male minded, Jensen merely holding Jared close and whispering comforting words in his ear. “Shhh…it’s okay Jared,” Jensen whispered, hands running up and down Jared’s back in what he hoped to be a soothing way. “You’re shaking Jared; come on, let’s get you inside.”

When he finally got Jared into the castle, Jensen led him to the bathroom, closing the door behind them. “Get your clothes off,” Jensen instructed, starting to run a hot bath to get Jared’s blood pumping through his veins again. The water hadn’t really been that cold, so he wasn’t sure why Jared was shaking, but he wasn’t going to run the risk of the younger male catching a cold because their boat had tipped over.

Unbeknownst to Jensen, Jared wasn’t shaking because the boat had tipped and he was cold; he had seen Mark and Fredric there, which only reminded him that he only had a one more day to have Jensen make love to him before he belonged to Genevieve and quite honestly, he was scared. There was no way for him to tell Jensen what was going on and he was starting to lose hope for this thing; after all, even when they had been kissing, Jensen didn’t try to take it to the next level. And now seeing Mark and Fredric, Jared was pretty sure Genevieve was cheating, which was only going to make his task harder.

Seeing that Jared hadn’t started taking his clothes off, Jensen frowned, slowly making his way over to the younger male, cupping his chin and lifting his head so that he was looking into Jensen’s eyes. “Jared?” he whispered, seeing that the younger male’s eyes were glossy with unshed tears. “What’s wrong, Jared?” he asked, giving his head a small shake. Clearly, this had nothing to do with the boat tipping over and if Jared was upset, Jensen wanted to help.

Because he had no idea how to communicate with Jensen, Jared did the one thing he knew he wanted; he reached for Jensen and crushed their lips together, pulling the older male closer to himself, arms wrapped tightly around Jensen. Thankfully, it didn’t take Jensen long to get the message, the prince kissing Jared back with as much passion as Jared was pushing into the kiss, tongue pressing against Jared’s lips and tangling with Jared’s own when he was granted access.

Small moans broke from Jared as Jensen pushed him back against the wall, hands pushing up the younger male’s T-shirt, fingers caressing the younger male’s skin. He knew this was risky because the door wasn’t locked and anyone could just walk right in, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care all that much. Jared’s lips just felt too good against his; it felt like this was right and Jensen wasn’t ready to give this feeling up quite yet. 

“Jared,” Jensen mumbled against the younger male’s lips, breaths coming out in harsh pants each time he broke for air. The look he saw in the other male’s eyes made Jensen forget what he had been asking, Jensen leaning in once more and capturing Jared’s lips with his own. It was like Jared had been begging for this; like the younger male was pleading with him to just take him right now. But not only take him; claim him and make love to him. Jensen was willing to do all of the above.

Just as Jensen leaned in for another kiss, he heard a voice coming from outside; singing the same song in the same voice he had been looking for over the last few days. Slowly, he turned his head and looked towards the window, pulling away from Jared slightly. “That voice,” he muttered, head shaking slightly as he took a step towards the window, eyes flashing briefly as he was trapped in Genevieve’s spell.

As soon as Jensen pulled away, Jared frowned, his eyes widening slightly when he heard his voice coming from outside. Quickly, he reached for Jensen, grabbing the older male’s arm and yanking him back up against his body. His eyes were pleading with Jensen not to leave him, Jared giving his head a small shake.

Again, the voice sounded outside, drawing Jensen’s attention to the window once more; he was about to move towards it again, but Jared held him close, shaking his head once more. Gently, he cupped Jensen’s cheek, forcing the older male to keep his attention on him. He leaned in slowly, kissing Jensen tentatively, leaving it open to the older male if he wanted to deepen the kiss.

Thankfully, the kiss seemed to keep Jensen’s mind off the voice outside and on Jared who was in his arms right now. Jared used Jensen’s tactic and shoved the older male up against the opposite wall, his hands practically ripping Jensen’s shirt off and pressing against the older male’s now bare flesh. He was begging Jensen to stay with him in his mind, but he didn’t think Jensen was really getting it. Genevieve was cheating by using his voice and he wasn’t going to give Jensen up without a fight.

When Jared ripped his shirt open, Jensen gasped softly into the kiss, taking Jared’s new attitude as an invitation to be a little rougher with the younger male. Quickly, he flipped them around, pushing Jared into the wall and grinding his achingly hard cock against the younger male’s hip. “Do you understand what we’re doing? Where this is going?” Jensen asked, smiling when Jared nodded. “Do you want this?”

Of course, Jared had started this, so Jensen didn’t think it was an issue of whether or not Jared wanted this, but he felt obligated to ask. Jared’s only answer was the pull Jensen into another kiss, returning the grind of the older male’s hips with his own movements before he let Jensen completely take over.

Having Jared here with him like this had Jensen completely forgetting about the voice that was outside. After all, that voice could just be his imagination; Jared was right here and if Jensen stopped now, there was a chance he wasn’t going to get this opportunity again. No, he wasn’t willing to risk Jared for something that possibly wasn’t even real. He knew it sounded crazy, but he was actually starting to fall for the younger male. Now, he just needed a way to tell his parents that he wanted a husband and not a wife; that he wanted Jared and not the Princess of whatever the hell city they were trying to hook him up with now. It was going to be hard breaking the news, but if his prize was Jared, then it was worth it.

As their movements continued, Jared closed his eyes, feeling heat pooling low in his belly though he had no idea what it meant. All he knew was that it felt damn good. His fingers dug into Jensen’s shoulders where he was holding onto him as he wrapped a leg around Jensen’s waist, pulling the older male impossibly closer as Jensen crushed their lips together again. 

Jensen completely forgot about the bathwater he had run for Jared as he pushed and pulled the younger male out of the bathroom and down the hall towards his bedroom, not even caring that someone could see them; he was planning on telling everyone that he wanted Jared tomorrow anyway, so it didn’t really matter if they saw him now. Hell, maybe it would make everything easier when the time to explain finally came.

Once he had Jared in his room, Jensen kicked the door closed behind them, all but shoving Jared onto the bed, smiling down at the younger male as he climbed onto the mattress with him. He worked quickly to get Jared’s clothes off then rid himself of his own, leaning down so he could kiss Jared once more, moaning into the kiss. “God Jared, you’re so beautiful,” he mumbled between kisses, his hand moving to wrap around Jared’s dick, stroking the flesh slowly, teasing Jared.

When Jensen wrapped his hand around his cock, Jared tossed his head back in pleasure, eyes squeezed tightly closed and his teeth clenched as he fought his body’s natural reaction to just let go; he wanted to at least wait for Jensen to cum before he lost it too early. His hands moved to fist in Jensen’s hair once more, dragging the younger male down to crush their lips together again, his tongue instantly pushing into Jensen’s mouth and tangling with the older male’s own. He wanted to talk to Jensen and tell him that he thought he was beautiful too, but his voice was still with Genevieve so he settled for simply kissing Jensen and hoping his unspoken words expressed themselves through his actions. 

Breaking the kiss, Jensen reached for the nightstand and pulled out the tube of lubricant from the top drawer, laying it on the bed beside Jared’s head. He didn’t want to take things too fast, yet at the same time, he wanted to be inside Jared more than he wanted to breathe right now. “Jared, are you sure you want this? Because once I start, I’m not going to want to stop.”

Again, Jared’s only answer was to pull Jensen into a kiss, hips bucking of their own free will into the older male’s hand. He watched as Jensen grabbed the lube and squeezed a generous amount into his palm, coating his index and middle fingers with the gel before he capped it and tossed it back onto the mattress. 

In all honesty, Jared wasn’t really sure how this worked, merely following Jensen’s lead and rolling over when he was instructed to do so. He tensed slightly when Jensen pressed against his hole, Jared looking over his shoulder at the older male in confusion. However, when Jensen told him to relax, Jared did, biting into his bottom lip as he felt Jensen’s index finger slowly breach him.

At first it was awkward, Jared needing to take a few minutes to get used to the invasion; however, when he got used to it, he couldn’t help but push his hips back against Jensen’s finger. It actually felt really good, the younger male gripping the sheets beneath him now that he couldn’t hold onto Jensen, begging his body to just calm down and unwind for a while until Jensen was ready for him to reach his climax.

“Are you okay, baby?” Jensen asked softly, whispering in Jared’s ear before blowing air onto the back of the younger male’s neck, hoping that he was driving Jared as crazy as the younger male was driving him. He groaned softly in pleasure when Jared nodded, letting him know he was fine and Jensen could continue. 

Slowly, Jensen added a second finger, allowing Jared to adjust before scissoring the digits inside the younger male. “Oh God baby,” he moaned softly, biting into his bottom lip as he rubbed his hard length against Jared’s ass cheek, barely able to hold himself back; but he knew that Jared needed to be prepped before he just dove right in, so he was forcing himself to be patient.

A few more minutes passed by and Jared was nearly writhing beneath Jensen, needing the older male to keep going; needing Jensen to let him cum. He reached back with one hand and gripped the back of Jensen’s head, pulling him into a messy kiss as his other hand grabbed Jensen’s cock, guiding him to his entrance to let the older male know exactly what he wanted. Jensen once again asked if he was sure and Jared rolled his eyes before he nodded; he had never been surer of anything in his entire life!

Jensen didn’t need to be assured again, the roll of Jared’s eyes letting him know that he really didn’t have to ask anymore. Quickly, he grabbed the lube once more and squirted another large dollop into his palm, stroking himself a few times to make sure he was coated liberally so he didn’t hurt Jared. Then, just as slowly as he had inserted his finger, Jensen pushed his member into Jared, kissing the younger male to whole time to take his mind off the invasion. 

Having Jensen inside him hurt at first, the younger male biting into his bottom lip and squeezing his eyes closed as his fingers fisted in the sheets below him; however, the pain only lasted a minute and Jensen kissing him did help to take the burn off his mind. He didn’t want Jensen to wait too long to move, so he coaxed the older male to continue by pushing his hips back against Jensen’s, eliciting a deep groan from Jensen.

Once he was absolutely sure that Jared was ready for him to move, Jensen did, pulling his cock out almost the whole way before slowly pushing back in. He gradually increased the pace as he wrapped his hand around Jared’s leaking member once more, stroking Jared in time with his thrusts. “Oh God Jay…mmm…baby…fuck…so good,” Jensen moaned as he rocked into Jared, lips and hands caressing every part of Jared he could reach.

It didn’t take long before both men were tumbling over the edge, Jared’s name falling from Jensen’s lips as he stroked the younger male through his orgasm. Once he came down from his post-orgasmic high, he wrapped his arms around Jared and pulled the younger male into his chest, pressing another kiss to Jared’s lips. “Mm…I love you Jared,” he mumbled, not even realizing that he had let the words slip until it was too late. “I mean…I…uh…”

Jared chuckled as he listened to Jensen stammering in an attempt to fix his mistake, giving his head a small shake. “Shhh…” he whispered, leaning in and capturing Jensen’s lips with his own in a kiss, pouring all of his own emotions into it. “Don’t worry about it; I love you too.” His eyes suddenly widened when he realized that he was talking; Genevieve’s spell had worn off, which meant Jensen wasn’t lying and he really did love him! “Jensen…I’m…I can talk again!”


	6. Chapter Six

Jensen’s eyes grew wide when he heard Jared speaking, the older male pushing himself up on one elbow to look down at Jared. “You-You’re talking,” he stated the obvious, clearly confused by what was happening now. A few minutes ago, Jared had been a mute and now he was talking like he had been doing it all his life. “What’s going on?” he asked, giving his head a small shake.

“It’s a long story,” Jared explained, mimicking Jensen’s actions as he gave his own head a shake. “Honestly, I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.” Maybe that’s what was keeping Jared from readily explaining everything to his prince. If Jensen didn’t believe him and thought him to be crazy, Jared wasn’t sure he could handle that. Then again, Jensen deserved the truth; especially if he and Jared were going to be together for the rest of their lives.

Before Jared could even try to explain his situation, there was a loud bang and the room filled with smoke. Both men began coughing as the smoke morphed and transformed into a woman; she had a sneer on her face and she looked outraged. Worst of all, her rage seemed to be pointed directly at Jared and he wasn’t sure why. “You little whore!” she spat, taking a step closer to Jared and completely ignoring Jensen when he scolded her for speaking to Jared that way. “Three days! I gave you three days and you managed it in two! That takes skill, Jared.”

Slowly, Jared shook his head, not understanding what was going on. “What are you –” he started, only to have his words cut off when realization hit him hard. “Genevieve?” he asked, biting into his bottom lip as he shook his head slightly. “But what are you doing here? I thought you were going to leave me alone if I met the terms. I –”

A loud shrill laugh escaped Genevieve at Jared’s words, cutting the younger male off. “I said you had to get Jensen to make love to you Jared in order to fill the demands of the deal. Not just have sex with you.” She snapped her fingers and Mark and Fredric suddenly appeared, sneering at Jared. “So, does he really love you Jared? Or were you just something warm to stick his dick in?” With a wave of her hand, she had Fredric and Mark grabbing Jared and pulling him from the bed, holding him in place as she moved closer to him. 

Tear filled hazel orbs darted towards Jensen before landing back on Genevieve. He wanted to believe that Jensen really loved him, but there was no way to be sure. “I-I don’t know,” Jared answered honestly, giving his head a small shake before it hung with defeat. Only Jensen would know if he truly loved Jared; and if he didn’t, then Jared didn’t even care that he was going to become one of Genevieve’s pets because everything he wanted would have just gone down the drain and nothing else mattered. Then again, Genevieve’s spell had worn off, so that had to mean something, didn’t it?

Smiling, Genevieve ran her hand over Jared’s bare chest, shushing the younger male. “It’s okay, sweetie,” she assured him, giving her head a small shake. “It’s happened to many before you. Let’s just see what our young prince has to say about it.” Finally, she turned her attention to Jensen who seemed to be vibrating with rage because of something that was going on here. “Do you love him, Jensen?” she asked, glaring at the other male. “Really love him?”

Just as Jensen was about to answer Genevieve, his voice was suddenly lodged in his throat. Did he truly love Jared? He’d only known the man for a few days, so there was no way to know for sure; he did know that he felt strongly for the younger male, but love was such a strong word. Jensen didn’t say it unless he meant it either, unlike some people. But didn’t he tell Jared that he loved him just a few minutes ago? Of course, that could have been due to his high, but it didn’t matter. 

Furthermore, Jensen wasn’t the type of guy who just had sex with someone after two days if there was nothing between them, so he knew what he had to do. Angrily, Jensen pushed himself out of the bed, pulling a pair of sweats on to cover his nakedness as he answered, “Yes, I really love Jared. Now does someone want to let me in on what the hell is going on here?! And get your damn hands off him!”

“Would you die for him?” Genevieve asked, motioning for Mark and Fredric to release Jared, a small smile on her lips as she watched the younger male move towards Jensen once more. “I mean, if you truly loved Jared, you would be willing to give your life in order to save his, am I right?” At least someone who was supposed to be in love with another person should have done that as far as she was concerned.

This time, Jensen didn’t hesitate with his answer. “Yes; I’d die for him in a second.” He was actually a little surprised by how true those words really were; he’d never thought he would love someone so much that he’d be willing to die for him, but Jared had managed to capture his heart like that and Jensen was kind of grateful. “Are you satisfied now?”

A wide, malicious smirk came to Genevieve’s lips when Jensen told her that he would die for Jared. “Almost,” she answered when Jensen asked if she was satisfied now. With a small flick of her wrist, Mark and Fredric grabbed Jensen and held him down, the sea witch’s smile widening. Suddenly, Mark lifted his hand and it was sparking, electricity jumping from one finger to the next. The unthinkable happened after that; Mark pressed that hand to Jensen’s bare torso.

When Mark’s hand connected with Jensen’s chest, Jared’s eyes widened, the younger male shaking his head as he watched in horror. “No, please! Genevieve stop, please?!” Of course, the sea witch wasn’t listening, only smiling as she watched Jensen’s body convulsing and listened to Jensen’s pained screams. “Genevieve, take me! Please, don’t hurt him anymore; you can have me, just leave Jensen alone! Please, I’m begging you!”

At Jared’s words, Genevieve smiled, turning her attention to Jared briefly as she motioned for Mark to stop electrocuting Jensen. “Oh, don’t worry, sweetheart, you’ll get what’s coming to you. But first I wanna play with your lover boy a little bit. I won’t hurt him, sweetie…much.” Cackling loudly, Genevieve looked towards Mark and Fredric again moments before Jensen was screaming in pain once more. 

“Stop!” Jared yelled once more, tears coming to his eyes when no one would listen to him. Quickly, Jared moved to the other side of the room and grabbed Jensen’s sword, his legs wobbling a little as he rushed towards Mark and shoved the blade into his back, eyes widening when the other male turned on him before falling to the ground, taking Jared with him, which caused the sword to clatter out of Jared’s hands.

Luckily, Jensen was able to escape before Fredric grabbed him, doing a somersault and grabbing the sword just in time to stab Fredric as he reached for Jared, his hand crackling with energy. Once the other male fell to the ground, Jensen turned his attention to Genevieve, ready to slay her as well. Unfortunately, before he could attack, she grabbed Jared and held him against her, using the younger male as a shield.

Her eyes were wide with a mixture of fear and fury as she dragged Jared back towards her body, escaping from the room through the window and pulling Jared to the ocean with her. Jensen followed behind them, sword in hand as he ordered Genevieve to let Jared go. However, as soon as they hit the water, Genevieve forced Jared to turn back into a merman, leaving Jensen alone on the shore to just stare at his lover. “Jay?” he asked, head shaking slightly in disbelief.

Cackling, Genevieve dove deeper into the water, taking Jared with her even as he fought against her hold. “Let go of me!” Jared yelled, hitting Genevieve’s arm angrily. “You’re cheating! I won the bet! You’re supposed to be leaving me alone to be with Jensen! Get off!”

Genevieve hit Jared hard in the chest as the younger male struggled. “Stop fighting against me, you little prick. This was never about you! I have much bigger fish to fry than your sorry, worthless little ass,” Genevieve explained, a wide smile coming to her lips when Jim came into view. “Why, King Jim; how nice to see you!”

The anger was radiating off Jim in waves as he moved closer to Genevieve, his demeanor menacing. “Let him go!” he ordered, frowning at the woman as she held his struggling son in her arms.

“Not a chance, Jim!” Genevieve answered with a shake of her head. “Jared’s mine now. We made a deal.” Of course, she had lost, but that didn’t matter; she was more powerful than Jared and her magic was more powerful than Jim when she was angry.

Shaking his head, Jared tried to explain, “Dad, I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do! But she cheated! I met the terms of the deal and –”

Genevieve’s laughter cut him off when his father tried to destroy the contract with a fierce blast from his trident, though he was not successful. “You see?” Genevieve chuckled. “The contract’s legal, binding, and completely unbreakable; even for you. Of course, I always was a girl with an eye for a bargain. The son of the great sea king is a very precious commodity. But…I might be willing to make an exchange for someone even better.”

**~~**

Jeffrey frowned as he watched Jensen steer one of the lifeboats towards the sea. “Jensen, what are you doing!” he asked, giving his head a small shake as he started to make his way to Jensen, ready to stop him if necessary.

There was no way to hide it now; Jensen knew he had to admit who he really was so he could let Jeffrey know there was no way he was going to stop him. If Jensen didn’t have Jared, he wasn’t coming out of that ocean. “I’m going after Jared,” he explained. “I’ve already lost him once and I’m not going to lose him again.”

Confused, Jeffrey gave his head a small shake. “What do you mean, Jensen?” he asked. “When did you lose Jared? You only met him a few days ago. And even if he has gone away, why do you care? I mean, there are more important matters to focus on, don’t you think?”

“I love him, Jeffrey!” Jensen explained. “So no, there aren’t any more important things than finding Jared right now.” With that, he pushed the boat into the water and started rowing towards where he’d seen Genevieve lingering just below the surface a few minutes ago, leaving Jeffrey to stare at him in shock on the shore alone.

**~~**

A loud laugh escaped Genevieve as she watched Jim sign the contract and he withered away into one of the unfortunate souls in her garden. Smiling, she reached for the crown and picked it up, nearly hugging the small treasure. “At last,” she chuckled. “It’s mine. It’s finally mine!” When Jared called her a monster, she slapped the younger male across the face, his lip splitting and leaving blood in the water around them. “Watch your tone, boy. Don’t fool with me, you little brat. Contract or no – ahhh!” Her words were cut off and replaced with a scream when Jensen stabbed her with a harpoon. Of course, the prince’s victory was short lived when Genevieve tried to shoot him with the trident. Luckily, Jared pushed her arm and forced the blast towards a different part of the ocean.

“Jensen, you’ve got to get out of here!” Jared explained, eyes pleading as he stared at his lover. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to Jensen after all; and he knew that if Jensen stayed here, he would likely get hurt and Jared couldn’t have that.

Shaking his head, Jensen argued, “No, I won’t leave you!” Suddenly, Jensen’s boat was tipped over and he fell into the ocean, the young male kicking his legs out and swimming to the surface. He only managed to get a few quick breaths in however before he was being dragged back in by Genevieve, his heart picking up as he swallowed water and his lungs felt like they were on fire. 

Before Genevieve could land the killing blow she had planned for Jensen, a shark came out of nowhere and bit into Genevieve’s waist, pulling her away from Jensen and commencing to devour her as it swam through the ocean. Her screams could still be heard until the very end, though Jared wasn’t paying much attention; instead, he was moving to grab Jensen who had passed out due to lack of oxygen. Jared quickly got Jensen to the surface and laid the older male out on the shore, fingers slowly tracing down Jensen’s cheek.

When Genevieve had been grabbed by the shark, the trident fell from her grasp as Jensen had and it now lay next to Jim. In moments, everything was reverted back to normal, Jim smiling widely as he replaced his crown on the top of his head.

As morning fell, Jim and Christian watched as Jared looked over Jensen from a distance. He couldn’t get too close because he needed the water to survive now, but he wanted to make sure Jensen was fine before he just left. After all, if Jensen died or was injured, that was on Jared; it was his fault Jensen had been out in the water and Jared couldn’t live with himself if he’d gotten Jensen killed.

“He really does love him, doesn’t he Christian?” Jim asked, a small sad smile on his lips as he watched his son gaze at this human. He wasn’t sure how he felt about all of this, but what was he going to do? Jim couldn’t have Jared moping about under the sea when everything he wanted and everything that would make him happy was up here on the shore.

Sighing, Christian explained, “Well, it’s like I always say, Your Majesty; children got to be free to lead their own lives.” 

A small, disbelieving frown came to Jim’s face as he tried to recall one instance when Christian had said those words. Finally, he gave up, figuring that it wasn’t important right now. “Then I guess there’s just one problem left.”

Now, it was Christian’s turn to frown, the small crustacean looking up to his king and asking, “And what’s that, Your Majesty?” Usually, he was on top of problems since it was basically his job, but now he was confused. He didn’t see any problems here.

Again, Jim sighed as he explained, “How much I’m going to miss him.” Although he could see the question in Christian’s gaze, he ignored it, instead raising his trident and pointing it at Jared. The younger male squirmed in pain as the trident’s magic touched him, leaving Jared panting and gasping for breath once the magic finally faded. However, when Jared realized that he was a human now once more, a wide smile came to his lips as he turned back towards his father, mouthing that he loved him and his thanks before Jared ran to Jensen.

His arms wrapped around the older male as soon as he was close enough, Jensen almost falling on his ass once more and taking Jared with him when their bodies impacted, though he was luckily able to keep them standing. “Are-Are you here to stay this time?” he asked, not wanting to get his hopes up only to have Jared taken away from him again. He wasn’t sure if his heart could take that.

Jared’s only answer at first was to crush his lips against Jensen’s, pulling the older male closer so there was no space between their bodies. “Yes,” he finally answered, nodding as he smiled widely, tears of joy forming behind his eyes. “I’m here to stay.” Biting into his lip, Jared added somewhat sheepishly, “If you’ll have me, I mean.”

Now it was Jensen’s turn to crush his lips against Jared’s, putting all of the passion and love he felt towards Jared into the kiss, hoping the younger male got the hint. “Of course I still want you,” he assured Jared once he’d caught his breath. Again, he crushed his lips against Jared’s, tongue licking its way into Jared’s mouth and tangling with the younger male’s own. When he pulled away, they were both panting out their breaths. His hand slowly moved into Jared’s then, lacing their fingers together. “C’mon,” he mumbled, licking his lips before a small smile formed on them when he tasted Jared there. “Let’s get you back to the castle.”

A wide smile cam to Jared’s lips as Jensen suggested they go back to the castle, the younger male nodding in agreement moments before he allowed Jensen to all but drag him to the door. He knew there were going to be a lot of questions to answer about who he was and how he could all of a sudden talk when he couldn’t before, but for right now, Jared didn’t want to think about all of that. Right now, all Jared wanted to focus on was Jensen and how loved he felt in this moment right now. Jensen had been willing to die for him and Jared had to prove that he was worthy of Jensen’s bravery. “Jensen,” he mumbled, stopping the older male from pulling him into the castle for a moment. “I love you.”

Jensen returned Jared’s smile before he leaned in and pressed a soft, loving kiss to Jared’s lips, then his forehead. “I love you too, Jay. Now come on inside; we have a lot of time that we were apart to make up for.” His smile widened as he pulled Jared through the door, closing it softly behind the two of them; in a way, it was almost as if he was closing the door on their old lives and opening the door to their new lives. And Jensen was absolutely fine with that.


End file.
